Kamen rider W: Chronicles of the Half Rider Dopant
by abodo
Summary: Museum will go to any length to unlock the secrets of the gaia memories even if it means sacrificing innocents. This is the story of one such innocent who is chosen to be another test subject. Will he survive the experiment or die trying?
1. Chapter 1

_**Folder 1: Bust out the B / The Good Guy is a Dopant?**_

It was the dead of night. A young man lay face down in a pool of what was clearly his own blood. He was going to die, that was for certain. "I don't want to die.", the boy muttered raggedly. His whole body was shaking, a mere step down from the violent convulsions he had been having earlier on. "I don't want to die.", he repeated. Despite the stubborn show, he knew that his time was at hand. "I don't want to die.", he continued. "I definitely don't want to die. Soon his sight grew blurry, fogging up what was left of his vision from the dark's doing. The smell of salty tears mixed with the nauseous copper of blood. I don't want to die.

"You.", an old man's voice carried over to the prone youth. "Are still alive.", it was a statement, not a question.

A switch clicked within the young man's mind, demanding him to look up. His eyes could not discern even this elder's features, neither could his other senses perceive anything but the blood about him. One thing that pierced through all the muddled senses however was fear.

The figure shifted in the young man's sight, a slight change in position of a blurred dark blob of black and some unknown colors. "Are you here to finish what he started?", the youth questioned.

Another slight shift that the youth detected sent another shiver down his spine. Cold mirthful laughter spliced between the elder man's words as he spoke, "Me? Align myself with such filth as that? No, I am not here to finish what he started, rather I am here to finish him.".

_He_ referred to the youth's attacker, a middle-school student just like the dying boy. _He_ was in possession of a gaia memory. Gaia memories were the fad nowadays compared to guns, they gave the person more power than any firearm and the crimes were cleaner than any cover-up give or take how careless the user was. The two boys had somewhat of a history which resulted in a long term vendetta. The culmination of it all was at a time of ten minutes ago.

Now the dying young man was not stupid. His brain was foggy but functional. "You killed him.", his accusation silenced the elder man.

"Yes.", the old man verbally smiled, "Yes I did.".

"Then…", the youth closed his eyes. The darkness embraced him, calling him away from the warmth and into the cold. "You'll kill me too.".

"Kill you?", the old man sounded puzzled. "Why would I kill you boy?".

The boy opened his eyes, "Do you need a reason to kill at all?".

The elder man remained silent, pondering the boy's words.

"Then you're going to kill me?", the boy asked again.

Pensively, the old man spoke, "I merely came out here because someone was causing a ruckus within my grounds. I cannot tolerate such.".

"So you'll leave me here to suffer then.", the boy sighed wearily. "A death so close and yet so far.", he mused with a bitter smile.

"Terror.", the old man spoke again.

"?", the boy replied as intelligently as he could.

"Are you not terrified of me boy?", the old man questioned. "Many have come before me and quailed at the mere sight. No, the mere presence of me sends them running away in a frenzy. Despite your dying state, why do you not fear me?".

"Soon.", the young man spoke. "I'll die, that's for sure.". The tone was grim and final, no hope nor resigned despair, merely acceptance. "Why", he continued, "should I be afraid of the person who could make things easier for me? What else should you be afraid of when you're at death's door?".

A snort of disgust escaped the elder man. "I see that you are still a child. You believe that death is the answer and shun life while you are still clinging by a thread. You are still immature for you speak with such cheek.".

Silence fell upon the two. The youth was silent, so much so that the old man had been convinced that the boy had already passed on. He was about to walk away when he heard a strangled snarl. "What do you know?", the voice hissed. "What do you know about dying when you aren't the one bleeding your life away?".

The old man turned to the youth once more with an impressed expression. "You would preach death to an old man who is closer to death than a child like you?".

"It's true that you're always standing closer to death than I do, but right now. Death is at _my_ side, waiting for _my_ heart to stop beating. He's much closer to me than to you at this moment.", the boy coughed from forcing himself to speak. He could feel his lungs weakening from the thinning blood. "Even though we're here.", he gasped for breath, "even if we accept our death.", he coughed up blood. "We are definitely, clinging to life.", some sort of sick heady feeling took over the youth. He could feel his insides shut down one by one. "Definitely and desperately.", he cried. His eyes closed and unconsciousness claimed him. Tears flowed down in a steady stream.

The old man watched the boy in his final moments. He heaved a sigh, pulling out a gaia memory. "Boy.", he rolled the youth over. "Appreciate well what I am doing for you. In return, fight till this life I lend you is no more.". The old man pressed the button upon the gaia memory, activating it, before stabbing the object into the youth's left wrist.

* * *

**A few months later**

A young boy ran across the street. Car horns honked and people screamed profanities at his sudden act but he didn't care. He pushed and shoved as hard and as much as it took, just as long as he could run away from them.

The bullies were chasing him again. For some time they had stopped bothering him, he thought it had ended when their leader passed away. In a few weeks time however, his theory was proven otherwise when they beat him senseless after school.

The boy jumped up a mesh fence, knowing full well that his own neighborhood was just past it. He was just a moment too slow at his climb as a hand latched onto his ankle. He felt it pull him down roughly. The sound of bone slugging pavement was unpleasant to hear and even more so to feel.

"A bit on the slow side aren't we, Kagami-kun?", the lead bully spoke. "And here I wondered why Gon was always having trouble with you. Right boys?", the tall boy grinned over at his clique of cronies.

"What do you want Koga.", Kagami Teo grunted in pain. He rolled onto his side, reaching for the back of his head. The pain from the sudden impact was still throbbing as he took a kick to the gut.

"Tch, When does trash like you refer to Koga-san like that you little punk?", a dread locked boy with a Jamaican styled beanie of bright colors grunted. He continued to kick the defenseless heap with no mercy.

"Hey, hey. Calm down Ryou. If you beat him down too badly then we can't make him convince her to come with us.", the group's blonde smooth talker shrugged with mocking disappointment. He looked towards his leader, "That'd be pretty bad, right Koga-san?".

"That's true Ichiro.", Koga's grin turned to a sinister smirk. "Fuyumi would be mad if we killed this little punk.". The Lanky teen approached the beaten down boy. He pushed Ryou away since it would be difficult to communicate with someone who was being treated like a soccer ball. He bent down to Teo's level. "So Kagami-kun, had enough?", he asked the pathetic looking youth.

"What do you want?", Teo repeated in a defeated voice. The boy felt his whole body groan with every move he made. Breathing was impaired as well after all those kicks to his ribs. This was bad, the real pain had yet to begin and Teo knew it. His only hope was to conform to whatever errand they were to set him on.

Koga grabbed Teo by the boy's short black hair. "What I want is for you to tell Fuyumi Asakawa that we want her to _do _us a couple of _favors_.", he said nastily.

"Favors.", Teo repeated. These guys were sick and he hated that. The only chance that he wouldn't have to pay hospital bills again was to give in to this demand.

Teo knew Fuyumi Asakawa personally. Heck they were childhood friends bordering family. He had stayed with her family after his father passed away. His parents had divorced when he was still a baby so he didn't understand anything then. She hadn't come to take custody of him either after his father's passing. He always believed that she hated him since all his relatives did, saying he was a stain to the family name.

Within the Asakawa household, Fuyumi was the elder sister Teo never had. She always looked out for him and protected him even though they were of the same age. She would listen to anything he said, as long as it was for his sake. He knew it, they knew it. The knowledge of it all made Teo's gut swirl in nauseous patterns.

Teo grit his teeth. "What kind of favors are we talking about?", he feigned ignorance to the gang's malicious intentions towards his adopted sister.

"Eh?", Koga gave him a funny look. "I knew you were stupid Teo.", the lanky teen stood up. He sighed, "But I didn't know it was this bad.". Quick as a flash he hit in the face, sending the young man sprawling once more.

"You must be all sorts of blind.", Koga continued. "I mean, can't you see those curves? Those sexy hips and that _rack_, any guy worth his nuts would tap that.", he said as a lecherous grin spread over the faces of the whole gang.

"We're only 14. How could you think of rape and exploitation so easily?", Teo grunted through the pain.

Koga snorted. "God, you're such a loser. 14's the age of rebellion man. We do what we want, when we want, where we want, if we want to.", the gang leader leaned his face down to Teo's level, "And there isn't anyone around who can stop us.".

_**Kill**_

Teo shuddered under the gang leader's declaration.

_**Kill them**_

Teo's hand weakly reached for his school blazer's inner pocket.

_**There is no choice. KILL THEM!**_

The injured boy's hand hesitated as it neared the hidden space. Should he really do it? Were his options so limited now? Did he have to resort to that?

Teo retracted his hand from his pocket. No, he had another choice. It would be hard, it would be painful, but everyone would be happier, right?

"I won't do it.", he answered with determination. "I won't tell her to go with you guys. I never will!", he shouted.

"You bastard.", Ryou walked up to deliver another kick to Teo's swelling face.

The victim braced for impact. Instead of feeling pain, he heard it instead from another's voice.

"Y-you!", Ryou's familiarly ratty voice grated in outrage.

Teo opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him was not entirely unwelcome. It was Fuyumi at his rescue. Her unevenly layered raven hair was as neatly wild as always, swaying with the dusk wind. Her sharp eyes which were usually rounded with kindness currently burned with a fire rivaling a sword's forge. "What have you been doing to Teo?", she hissed in demand.

"Fuyumi-chan", Koga went up to her. "You're as beautiful as always.", he began good-naturedly.

The girl had none of it, immediately clocking him in the face. "Don't you come near me you traitorous lapdog.", she growled at him.

Teo knew what the name meant. Koga had been a relatively pleasant acquaintance of both himself and Fuyumi for awhile. It was actually through him that they met up with the first person to ever bully Teo, Gon. Gon had taken a rather deep-seated interest with Fuyumi, physically. Teo had intervened and that started the whole mess, including Koga backstabbing them to side with Gon's much larger crew.

Koga had two fingers pinching his nose while he struggled to straighten himself up. "Wow!", the lanky teen chuckled with shaking knees. "You almost broke my nose there.", he stared at her straight in the eye. "I think that's kinda sexy. Wanna be mine?".

Fuyumi bristled at the comment. "Not even after I die.", she snarled.

She turned on her heel and knelt down to Teo's level. Her expression changed from enraged to kindly so fast that the wounded boy would have been amazed had he not grown used to it already. "Are you alright Teo?", she asked him softly. Her eyes and hands quickly perused him of all his injuries. "They got you real bad.", she said with a sad smile.

"Guess they did.", Teo offered a strained smile, though it dropped as he winced from his aching ribs.

His adoptive sister frowned. "They've gone too far.", she motioned to stand.

"No.", Teo held her back. "Forget it. Let's just leave. We shouldn't get into trouble."

Fuyumi held Teo's hands in hers. "You may forgive them for everything.". She carefully placed them by his side. "But I can't.", she gave him a warming smile. "Or more of I won't.", she declared, getting back on her feet.

Ryou who had been hit earlier before his boss stood back up. "Oh you're in for it now.", he pulled out a knife from his pocket. He yelled a battle cry as he charged forward.

Fuyumi regarded him coldly. Reflexes that were well honed from years of practice kicked in. A pair of accurate kicks later and the sole of Fuyumi's foot was embedded in Ryou's face while the knife was sent flying into a wooden fence.

The dread-locked youth slid down to the ground unconscious. The femme fatale proceeded to give every other gang member a cold once over. "Anyone else?", she challenged.

They all looked to their leader who regained his bearings some time ago. Koga shrugged, "If she wants us all at once then why not?". His nasty grin came back. "Get her.".

"Every one of you is dead.", Fuyumi's stony gaze made them hesitate in their advance. It was all she needed to weave amongst their ranks. She beat them down, one after the other without pause.

Three minutes hadn't even passed when the last body fell, that of which was Koga's. From it all, the only sign Fuyumi had been in a fight at all was the sweat glistening against her flawless peach skin.

"Are you okay Teo?", the victorious girl came to the fallen boy's aid. "Can you stand?".

Teo looked around before commenting, "Don't worry. Compared to those guys, I'm much better off.".

A mischievous smile replaced the worry on Fuyumi's face. "That's good to know.", she easily dragged Teo up to support him on her shoulders. "That tells me that I've hurt them enough.", she frowned a bit cutely. "Though I'm pretty sure I should have done worse.".

The injured boy swung his weight which wasn't being supported by Fuyumi, almost knocking them both off balance. He had her in his arms while his laugh echoed about.

A bright red flush heated The girls cheeks, feeling Teo's body pressed so close against hers. "Thanks for looking out for me.", she heard him whisper between laughs. "Fuyumi-nee-san.".

Fuyumi looked torn as she listened to his words. Though Teo could not see it, something was tugging at Fuyumi's heart. All she could do was reply, "I'll always look out for you. From now on and till the end of time.".

It didn't take long for them to reach home. As was said, they were pretty much in their neighborhood anyway, it was only a few blocks left.

"Okaeri!", the pair greeted as they entered the house. It was quiet, just as it always had been in the Asakawa household. Both parents were hard workers whose jobs were in the service of people. Mrs. Asakawa is a doctor and usually came home on her breaks, though because of her expertise as a surgeon she would be called away on various emergency cases. Mr. Asakawa on the other hand is a policeman. His position was only patrol but he held great pride in it as shown by how he treats his motorcycle so well. Sadly he was also absent from home till late at night since he held double shifts.

The teens quickly changed to their house shoes after which Fuyumi promptly led Teo to the living room couch.

"Stay there.", she commanded. "I'll just get the first-aid kit from the bathroom. Don't move okay?".

Teo shook his head, "I won't, promise.". He watched her go with a sigh. Really now, his knees were still shaking from all those hits he took earlier. She was expecting him to get up and walk off?

The young man lied on his back, appreciating the softness of the couch for all its downy goodness. He looked around himself, at the furniture, at the walls, the house and its hominess. No matter how many times Teo told himself that this was his home now, he still felt like a stranger. This house was too big and too empty. There was a living room cum dining room for the family to spend quality time together. They also had a large kitchen. It was warm but the warmth wasn't for him, it was for Fuyumi. The sick feeling from earlier came back and he contemplated shutting himself up in his room on the second floor which was alongside everyone else's.

_**Kill**_

'Stop saying stupid things', Teo mentally berated himself. It was the voice again.

_**Kill them and run away.**_

The boy grumbled. "Crazy.", he tried to convince himself. This voice was crazy, he shouldn't listen to it.

_**This isn't where we're supposed to be.**_

"Then where do I belong?", he challenged the monstrous voice.

"What are you talking about? Of course you belong here."

Fuyumi had returned with the promised kit in hand. She set it down by the table in front of the couch. "Really.", the girl huffed up. "How many times do I have to keep telling you.", she produced a bit of cotton and dipped it into peroxide with the aid of a pair of medical tongs.

Teo instinctively flinched when the piece of fluff was held against him sharply. He felt relieved when the stinging medication was applied with utmost care. He opened his eyes to stare right at Fuyumi's. He had expected to see a bit of anger and irritation like always. He didn't know what to think when disappointment, sadness and to some extent despair were set in those reflective onyx gaze. "Sorry.", the boy apologized without thinking. He didn't know why but he felt like he had just said something horrible.

The saddened girl tried to brush it off. "It's okay.", she heaved. "It's just", her hands paused in their work. "I always thought that you'd be here with us Teo.", she began, "but as the years go on. It feels like you're drifting farther and farther. When I think about you deciding if there's somewhere better than here, I can't help but wonder if there's something I could do to make you stay.". She rested her hands against her lap. "I'd do anything.".

"Don't", Teo placed a caring hand over hers. "Don't lose yourself over me. You've got so much ahead of you nee-san. You're pretty, you're smart, you're strong, and you're even good at chores. I'm sure somewhere out there is someone whom you'll make very happy and can make you happy as well.".

It hurt. It hurt to say those words to her. He felt like he was resigning himself to a fate that should be alone. Of course he wanted to stay with the Asakawas, he wanted to be a part of the family badly. He could feel it though, something akin to curse that would not let itself be identified intertwined with his future. He felt that he was born into a miserable existence that would be able to do nothing but bring misfortune. That feeling turned into reality whenever he recalled the events of months past. That one night at the museum, the night Gon died and he survived.

The boy looked around, trying to find someway to lift the dark mood that had come over them. The TV at this afternoon would be nothing but news. A movie would just be awkward so no DVD. "Oh.", he exclaimed when something caught his eye.

"Teo?", Fuyumi looked up to him. "What is it?".

The aforementioned boy just smiled at her. "How about some music?", he suggested. He took his companion's silence as a yes so he limped his hurt self over to the antique radio that Mr. Asakawa had bought and doted over for as long as he could remember. He twisted the dials as static began to clear into a discernable voice.

"_21.0 FM! Wind Wave! Get that power song!"_, the familiar jingle played.

"Teo.", Fuyumi gave him a flat stare. "What are you doing?".

Teo shrugged despite the pain he was in. "Thought I'd lighten things up. You love her show right? Wakana-hime's.", he stated as a matter-of-factly.

As if to prove his point, the radio idol's debut single _Naturally_ began to play. "_Sonozaki Wakana's Healing Princess!"_, the radio cooed mystifyingly.

Fuyumi flushed a light pink. "You know about that?", she asked him sheepishly. It was a somewhat secret hobby of hers, her fandom for the Sonozaki idol that is.

"I should know.", he sat down gingerly back in his seat. "We're siblings after all.".

Again, that torn smile from before adorned Fuyumi's lips. "Yeah, siblings.", she echoed. "Now move over so I can get at those bruises.", she pounced him. The sudden light-hearted act surprised him. With her, Teo felt that any day could get better.

"_It's time for Fuuto Mystery Tour."_, the radio chimed.

"It seems we've missed the start.", Teo murmured underneath all the bandages and plaster on his face.

"Mou and it's all your fault.", Fuyumi slapped his arm playfully.

Teo rubbed his arm. "That's a bit too much strength. I'm still injured you know.", he mumbled out.

Fuyumi's response was to thrust a pillow in the boy's face to silence him, "Shh quiet! This is my favorite part.". She balled herself up on the couch. All her concentration focused on the radio.

The injured boy just sighed, she's always been into superstitious stuff. There was nothing he could do about that trait of hers, besides appreciating it as one of her endearing quirks.

"_Today's letter comes from radio name Namae. Namae says: "Dear Wakana-hime-sama"_, The radio idol paused for a while as a small laugh could be heard over the radio. _"I've been called Wakana-hime and Wakana-sama a lot but I've never been called Wakana-hime-sama. It's a bit of a shock you know. Oh? I should carry on? Haha the director is glaring at me through the glass again. Anyway, ahem "Wakana-hime-sama, I've been seeing some very strange things at night in Ayumi park. Sometimes I see shadows playing in the moonlight but when I look, there's nothing there. It's very very scary. Actually I once thought to catch this shadow but when I arrived at where I believed it to be, I saw a fallen sparrow all dried up enough that when I touched it it crumbled into sand. It was very scary. Poor bird I hope it went peacefully. Your fan, Namae."._

Wakana paused for a breath. _"Ooh, what a scary urban legend we have today. I wonder if it's related to all those dry spells we've been having in the various parts of the city. It's really strange no? Anyway everyone is feeling uneasy about these events."_, the idol gave an audible shudder, _"I hope kamen rider can do something about this scary thing ne?"._

"That's not an urban legend.", Fuyumi said quietly from her fetal position on the couch.

"Hm?", Teo turned to her.

"The dry spells are no urban legend.", she told him solemnly. "I've seen them, those things in Ayumi park. Flowers, animals, a lot of them, crumbling into dust.", she went quiet. She bent her head down shutting everything out.

Teo watched hesitantly, not knowing what to do when his adoptive sister was in this pensive state. It must have affected her deeply, for her to be like this.

He reached into his pocket, feeling the ribs that were embossed from the objects rectangular body. A bad vibe came over the boy as he kept on thinking about the urban legend and his sister's words of witnessing the after effects. It was more than that, he was sure. If worse came to worst, then he would use _it _when the time came. He prayed that time would never come to pass.

-----

**Fuuto museum also known as the Sonozaki Estate**

The rich cream walls were bright with the chandelier lights bouncing off of them. Within the grand hall was a long table where three individuals sat whilst two maids waited on them.

"Otou-sama.", one of the extravagantly dressed individuals, a woman in her mid-twenties called her father's attention at the table head.

The old man referred to as the father and owner of Sonozaki estate, the one rumored to be the most influential man in Fuuto, Sonozaki Ryuubei grumbled childishly as he replaced the fork of pasta he had been trying to feed the family cat with. "What is it Saeko?", he questioned patiently, "I was feeding Mikk his dinner, I hope this is something important.".

Saeko nodded, "Of course otou-sama. It is about the memory I gave you to examine for approval. It was still a prototype so I was wondering if we should begin mass-producing it for distribution.".

Ryuubei thought for but a moment before answering, "Ah yes, that memory. That was the one you sent to me about two months ago is it not?".

"Yes, otou-sama", Saeko politely nodded.

"We will not make copies of it yet, rather we cannot.", the old gentleman took up his fork to feed the family cat once again.

Saeko's brows raised to unimaginable heights for the maids had never seen her so distressed. "What do you mean otou-sama? Is there something wrong with the memory?".

On the other side, a familiar snicker caused the elder Sonozaki child, Saeko, to glare at her younger sister across the table.

"What do you find so funny, Wakana?", Saeko spoke coldly with half a mind of showing her sister just who was superior between them and who had the right to laugh at whom.

"Oh.", Sonozaki Wakana, radio talent and second child of the Sonozaki family quieted herself. "Sorry onee-sama", she spoke with as much politeness as she could muster.

Ryuubei sighed, he missed his daughter's former spitfire self. Ever since that incident with the violence dopant, she had become rather _soft_ so to speak. "Saeko.", he broke up the impending scuffle between the two. "The memory you had me appraise is no longer in my possession.", he firmly declared. A smile was on his face as he watched Mikk finally nibbling on the Italian dish.

"But that memory was something we struggled hard to recreate! It was of the highest purity amongst our stock. What could have happened to it?", Saeko went into an internal panic. The words were said with relative calm and, God forbid, curiosity. "Did someone steal it from you?", she could not help but ask her father. Was someone even powerful enough to steal something from the grasp of terror incarnate himself?

The Sonozaki head waved off his daughter's suspicions. "Think nothing of the sort. I merely gave it away to an interesting boy.", he continued on feeding Mikk.

"An interesting boy?", Saeko felt faint. That memory's data quality was almost impossible to obtain, to just give it away. "Why otou-sama?", she could not help but press for an answer.

"Like I said.", Ryuubei repeated. "He is interesting. I look forward to seeing how far the memory will evolve in his hands.".

"Does he have what it takes? Even if he reaches level 2, he might die before providing any useful data.", Saeko reasoned. "Please give me permission to retrieve it.".

"Saeko.", the elder Sonozaki spoke with firm authority that scared everyone in the room. "Though it pains me that you have so little faith in me, I understand your concern for the memory's well being. It has yet to be activated since the night I gave it to him.", he conceded.

"Then give me permission.", Saeko's voice bled desperation. Something Ryuubei never forgave Saeko for was weakness. Desparation was clear sign of such weakness. Luckily for her the old man was deep in thought over the memory.

Ryuubei replaced his fork as he stroked Mikk's fur. "The memory stays with that boy.", the Sonozaki head declared. "He will evolve, beyond even Kirihiko-kun could ever reach.".

The room fell silent for a bit. For different reasons, Sonozaki Kirihiko, the son-in-law was mourned for. The one who mourned him most but at the same time despised the man was Wakana. The last time she had seen him, he seemed refreshed and prepared to take on the world. Imagine to her shock at the knowledge of her brother by law being called in dead the same day. "If I may be so bold Otou-sama.", Wakana raised a question. "What makes this person so special? I don't think you would have given him a driver. He would just be a regular dopant.".

"Hmm?", Ryuubei looked pleased that his younger daughter was finally taking a serious interest in their wares. "My dear child Wakana.", the kingpin smiled. "Think for a moment about his situation. A mere bio-connector and yet he's already kept himself from using it for two months. An amazing feat is it not?".

Wakana nodded warily, not sure what kind of person would be able to fight off the intense cravings brought on by the illegal technology. "I suppose, but such restraint, would it not hinder his growth? I mean the memory's growth?".

"For once I agree with Wakana.", Saeko added. "We should eliminate him while we are at it. Someone who can control his gaia memory addiction may tell others of us.".

"He will not.", The father of the two spoke. "I know he won't, because I remember those eyes he had when he escaped from here using the memory's power.", Ryuubei smiled. "Those were the eyes of a beast, a beast that is struggling to survive. That memory will be his only lifeline.".

Curiosity took hold of Wakana when she decided to ask, "What do you mean otou-sama?".

The old man chuckled as he relayed to his daughters, "It is nothing of importance my dear. It is merely a game I am playing. Soon that memory will come alive once again and we will see what that boy can truly do.".

-----------------

**The next day, on the streets of Fuuto**

"C'mon! Hurry up Teo!", Fuyumi called back to her adoptive sibling.

The aforementioned boy came ambling up the sloped street. "Hold up, I'm still injured you know.", he grumbled slightly, referring to all the bandages on his face, not to mention grabbing hold of his ribs every now and then which truly hurt from yesterday's meeting.

"But we're gonna be late!", The raven-haired girl glared with hands akimbo.

"No, _you're _going to be late. It's like 5 o'clock in the morning. Classes don't start till 8 you know.", the boy grumbled. He could not stifle the yawn that escaped his lips. As if to prove the point of it being too early, even the cats that were curled up on the brick walls yawned widely.

Fuyumi gave him a disapproving look. "Don't be such a lazy butt. Archery practice starts way earlier in other schools.", she huffed up.

"God.", The young man resisted the urge to bash his head against the same wall where the aforementioned cats were. The lack of sleep was making his head buzz.

_**Here**_

Teo shook his head to clear the lethargy, it was getting so bad that he was hearing voices.

_**Through here**_

The youth had the sudden urge to look over at the brick walls. "This is…", he breathed.

"Ayumi Park!", Fuyumi ran up beside him. Unlike Teo, she looked fresh as a daisy. An idea struck the girl as her expression betrayed that fact. "Hey!, we can cut through here to our school! I might be able to get to practice on time after all.", she ran in the nearby entrance without another thought.

"Fuyumi-nee-san!", Teo yelled after her. "Ugh, morning people.", he grumbled as he jogged to catch up. Due to his sleepiness or some other fate, he grazed the gate but ignored it as he continued on his way.

That section of the gate crumbled into nothing but dust.

_**Another is here**_

It was getting harder for Teo to breathe so he stopped for a sit at a nearby fountain. He wasn't used to physical exertion so it was no surprise he had completely lost sight of his athletic sister. "I need to get out more.", he vocalized his regrets. Then again, whenever he stepped out for a casual stroll he'd usually get mugged, beaten up or both.

Teo sighed dejectedly, "Nothing ever goes my way does it?".

_Mreowr_

The teen jumped at the sound. He looked down to his feet where he was sure the noise came from. "Oh", he breathed relief, "It's just a cat.".

_**Some things are more than what they seem**_

"Crap, I'm seriously getting some shut eye once I hit my seat.", Teo scooped a handful of water from the fountain and splashed it on his face.

"Mreowr", the cat came closer and nudged his leg.

The boy looked puzzled. "What do you want?", he asked as he picked the feline up.

It was fat and gray with a physique that just showed how little it moved about. The most interesting thing was the note attached to its back via the belt wrapped around it.

"Huh", the young man said in wonder, "Messenger cat, how about that.". He decided that it must have been some kid's practical joke or something so he released the cat of its burden.

It deftly leapt off his lap with agility and finesse unexpected of its build. It gave another snotty meow before it left Teo alone.

The boy watched it stalk off with a proud gait as he said uncertainly, "Uh, your welcome?".

He shook his head at his own antics for talking to a cat. "I'm going crazy. First I hear voices in my head, now I'm speaking to cats. What's next? I get a death threat?", he threw his hands up in exasperation. The act caused him to spot the piece of paper in his hand. He got curious and pulled it closer to read, it was a letter.

_Boy_

_How are you? It is I, that old man from that night two months ago._

Teo stopped dead. Two months ago, that was the time when he got _it_, the time he almost died. He dove down to continue the written message, trying to figure out if this was coincidence or truly meant for him.

_You had exceeded my expectations with the gift I gave you. I look forward to your future growth. However it seems that this is being hindered by your lack of its use. Not to worry, I'm sure the right circumstances will present itself in due time. Right now would be a prime example._

_ Good luck,_

_ Terror._

_P.S. I pray for your sister's safety._

By the time he had finished with the letter, Teo's hands were shaking like crazy. "Two months ago. Terror.", he remembered the old man. He had said that word _"Terror" _and for some reason that was what clung to the boy. "This can't be real.", he grabbed at his hair. In vain he tried to believe that this was all a product of his imagination.

_**Oh but how real it is**_

Teo felt the familiar pressure in his head. His hand reached into his pocket to pull out a horrific ribbed mutation of a USB drive.

_**The proof of reality**_

The young man felt bile rise up his throat at the thought. How he wished he could just throw it away, but no matter what he did, he felt that it would be wrong to just dispose of the memory. As crazy as it sounded, he felt like the memory was calling to him, a part of him even. "I should've just died then.", he hung his head in regret.

_AAAHH!!_

A blood curdling scream cut across the morning air.

Teo immediately bolted upright on his feet. "Nee-san", he gasped breathlessly. If the letter was serious then she'd be in danger right now. He did not think of questioning the letter's authenticity, neither did he think about what he should do when he met up with his sister. All he knew as he ran was that Fuyumi screamed, and when she screamed hell always breaks loose one way or another.

_**So it begins**_

Teo forgot all about the tiredness he felt earlier. His body was filled with adrenaline, pushing him way over what he was used to. He jumped off the path and broke through the brush that separated him from the source of the scream.

When he arrived, the lush grass and plant life of the clearing had become a virtual desert. Dunes of sand piled up everywhere, turning into miniature dust storms as winds whipped in unhindered by trees. Fuyumi stood in the middle of all this like a deer-in-headlights. Her body was rigid whilst her eyes quivered in fear of something approaching her.

The gales died down, clearing away the storm and the shadows that veiled over whatever was scaring Fuyumi.

_**He's here!**_

"Dopant.", Teo whispered in disbelief. The monster had bandages wrapped all around him, the cracks between them leaking sand. His shoulders had armor that had carvings resembling those of humans gasping for air. The chest plate had a weather worn design in contrast, as if it was cracking from dehydration. It did not have feet, instead there was sand swirling about and retracting back into the bandages that ended just above the calves. The face was unforgettable, It looked like the bandages were falling off to reveal a very dried up face. The bandage covered just one eye while the crown of the head was showing cracked bone white. The single showing eye was also dead white. The place where the mouth should have been was sewn shut over the bandages. It looked like a mummy that was half-way to dying or being revived.

"Mine.", the dopant spoke in a scratchy voice. "You'll be mine forever, Fuyumi!", The bandages that were dangling loosely over its body came to life. They struck out like live limbs intent on taking the petrified girl into their grasp.

Teo moved quickly, crossing the distance of a dozen or so meters in barely a few seconds. He tackled his sister out of harm's way, landing them both on the dusty ground. He quickly recovered and took hold of Fuyumi. "Nee-san!", he shook her. "Are you okay? Nee-san!". He called out to her as she closed her eyes, trying to block everything out. "Nee-san!", Teo shouted out again.

Slowly, Fuyumi opened her eyes again. The first face she saw was the one she prayed to see. "Teo!", she grabbed onto him, crying.

The boy was taken aback. Never had his sister clung to him like this as she was breaking down. He could do none else but hold her close and try to comfort her.

"You!", hissed the dopant. "Get away from her!", it approached with its serpentine bandages swinging.

Teo saw them coming but his sister was in no condition to move. He jumped in to take the hit which could have hurt his sister. The dirt synthetic linen smashed hard against his back, hurling both him and Fuyumi, who was still in his arms, a ways away.

The young man grimaced from the pain in his back. His cares were redirected though when he felt the pressing of a familiar body underneath him. "Nee-san!", he cried. He quickly got off to make sure she was alright. He got no response no matter how many times he called her name.

"Let her go.", the scratchy voice of the dopant reached his ears once more. "Look at her, she's been hurt because she's with you. Let her go!", the dopant demanded.

Teo looked between Fuyumi and the monstrosity approaching them. He could not help but think he would regret this decision in the long run as he let go of his adoptive sister and primed his legs for the fastest sprint he'd do in his entire life.

The dopant seemed to give off the air of someone smiling as it spoke, "Yes. Just like that. Leave her with me.". It came closer, savoring every step it took towards its prize.

That feeling quickly went downhill when Teo speared the dopant backwards, not enough to fall over but enough to hold him down. "Fool!", the dopant hissed as it struggled against the desperate youth.

"I won't leave nee-san with you!", Teo shouted determinedly. "I definitely won't!".

"Filth.", the dopant grunted out. With a heave, he tossed the young boy aside, continuing his path towards Fuyumi.

"Ugh.", Teo coughed up the air in his lungs entering and exiting in unnatural intervals. "No.", he mumbled. "No.", he repeated, shaking his head. "NO!", he screamed with a lunge at the dopant's legs.

"Let go of me!", the mummified monstrosity growled. It tried to pry itself from Teo's grip but the boy held firmly. "I don't have time for this.", it hissed.

Teo felt whatever he was holding onto suddenly lose shape, like ice suddenly melting into water. "What's going on?", he shouted in surprise.

"A little trip.", was all the answer the boy was given as the dopant turned into a storm of dust, rocks and bandages. It completely enveloped the boy tossing him about like a rag doll. "Say hello to the birds for me.", the dopant chuckled evilly at its own joke before catapulting Teo a fifty feet through the air.

The feeling of flying through the air was both exhilarating and terrifying. Exhilarating because of the sensation of air whipping through your hair and clothes gave an almost addicting high. The terrifying part was the fact that the landing could kill, especially when you're free falling from thirty feet high and fifty feet across.

Teo was lucky this time, the forest trees caught him just right that they broke his fall. "That really hurt.", he couldn't help but mutter. He was on his back, staring up at the trees. "Nee-san.", he mumbled out the first word that came to mind. "I couldn't protect her.", he told himself guiltily. "I'm useless.".

_**Then use me**_

Teo remained silent as he brooded over his current state.

_**Use me and we can beat him**_

The youth clenched his fist tightly, He contemplated, was it the right thing? Would it be for the best? Should he fight?

_Not to worry, I'm sure the right circumstances will present itself in due time._

_In return, fight till this life I lend you is no more._

Teo grit his teeth as he gingerly moved his hands with what little strength was left to him. He reached into his pocket to retrieve a gaia memory, the same one from earlier. He pressed on the button, activating it as it gave a vocal confirmation.

_**Diamond**_

The boy plugged it into his left wrist which had the bio-connector and let the power flow into him.

With Fuyumi, the dopant was taking its time admiring her unconscious image. It ran its hands over her, appreciating the soft curves that jutted against the many layers of the schoolgirl's uniform. Under his touch, the fabric began to chip and crack. Soon those parts just turned to dust.

"I've wanted you for so long.", the dopant spoke half-way filled with lust and the other half with love. "Now I'll finally have you, my little pet.". The monster was about to lift her up but stopped as shots were fired at it, causing the dopant to lose balance and fall over.

It stumbled to its feet due to the attack's after effects. "Who? Who dares attack me?", the monster hissed in the direction where the shots were fired off.

In the distance near the border where trees were left standing around the miniature desert, a lone figure glinted against the rising sun. It was coming closer, slowly but surely if the brightening glint wasn't enough. It had one arm raised forward pointing right at the dopant molesting Fuyumi. It only said one thing as it came enough to hear, "She's not an object.".

The mummified dopant felt anger stir up within it. "She's mine!", it roared rushing forward.

"Not if I can help it!", the newcomer gave a shout of equal intensity.

The sandy dopant rushed forward with sand and bandages whipping about. It threw forward a right hook that the other just ducked under. The newcomer reciprocated with a hit to the gut that sent the dopant sliding back.

"Ugh.", the dopant grunted out. "What are your fists made of? Diamonds?", it cursed the amount of agony it was going through from a single hit.

That was exactly what the dopant was up against though. A dopant made of diamonds, the diamond dopant. For a dopant it looked quite normal compared to most. Its face was a four-sided diamond shaped similar to those of playing cards. Its arms, legs and body looked like they were flowing with liquid crystal. Its forearms, shins, chest and torso were encased in solid diamond. What made it so unique most probably was the crystalline structure around its waist that resembled a belt along with the two spikes that stuck out of its head like antennae.

The diamond dopant completely ignored the sandy dopant's question, preferring to keep the battle going as it shot diamond bullets out of its left hand's fingers. The sandy dopant took the shots but this time it was prepared.

The diamond dopant looked confused as the shots just seemed to sink into the sandy dopant. In return the one being shot at just laughed, "Hahaha, you may have ridiculous offensive powers given to you by that diamond body, but that means nothing when you're fighting against something that's not even solid.".

The sandy dopant roared, "You're dead!". It charged forward with surprising speed. It had taken its sandstorm like form to overwhelm the diamond dopant. It threw the diamond dopant around till it was satisfied with the amount of craters that were beginning to form in the desert landscape. It then slammed the diamond dopant on the ground one last time. "I'm gonna drain you dry.", it howled in glee.

"Idiot.", the diamond dopant replied. "Crystals don't have any moisture.", it reached up and grabbed the closest bandage that flew past. One hard tug caused the whole sandstorm to stop as the diamond dopant threw its adversary a ways off.

The sandy dopant shook its head free of the dizziness from that last hit it took. It was not given enough time to recover however as a rain of blows came down on it.

The diamond dopant realized that the sandstorm like form of its opponent was still incomplete as proven by how solid whatever that thing on the other end of the bandage was. The key now was to beat the sandy dopant before it could assume the sandstorm form again.

The sandy dopant was smart enough to realize this so it launched its counterattack before the diamond dopant did its deed. The counter attack caught the diamond dopant off guard as the sandy dopant ripped its sewn mouth open and released a jet of water.

The sandy dopant fell to one knee as it gasped for breath as if it was dying. "I must have lost too much water.", it glared in the direction of the diamond dopant. "I'll remember this you bastard. I'll kill you next time.". The mummified dopant disappeared in a swirl of dust and cloth, as if it had never existed.

Meanwhile, the diamond dopant had just gotten back on its feet. It scanned the surrounding area as quickly as it could. "He's gone.", it noted.

Its sights turned to Fuyumi. She lay helplessly against the sand laden ground, alone and unprotected. Another one to kill, another one to test its power against, that was its decision as it crossed the distance between them. Its right hands drew over its head, ready to strike down and crush the girl's skull, ready to spill the blood and gore that pulsed within this human.

_Stop!_

The dopant tried to move but could not. "You again.", the diamond dopant grunted as it forced the raised arm to descend but to no avail.

_This isn't you. Wake up!_

"Shut up. I want to use this power. It doesn't matter if it's the real me or not. I'll destroy, I'll annihilate, I'll absolutely rampage just as long as I can have this high.", the dopant cackled.

_Teo! Take control! Using the gaia memory at such a weak physical state has made you lose control._

"Shut up!", the diamond dopant spun wildly, lashing out with its limbs. "You're a nuisance. This is what I want, what I truly want.", the dopant now identified as Teo chuckled darkly.

"Now.", Teo turned back to Fuyumi. "it's time for me to lose it, and I'll start with you.", it brought up its hand again. "Die for me and let me experience absolute pleasure.". The dopant brought its fist down with enough force to smash steel.

_Nee-san_

The diamond fist stopped right before it could make contact.

"Urgh.", Teo grunted, "what's going on?". He looked down at the fallen girl. "Nee-san.", he repeated. "What am I doing?", Teo grabbed hold of himself. He spread his arms out and cried out in anguish.

It was unexpected that at the diamond dopant's time of grief, a heavy sword smashed into him. The sword sent Teo tumbling into a sand dune, while stabbing itself deeply into the ground.

_**Accel**_

"Hen-", a man in a red-hot racer jacket and equally hot-rod style pants came onto the scene. In his hands he had a Gaia memory with a speedometer styled 'A' on it. "-shin.", the man concluded, thrusting the memory into his belt buckle which resembled bike handles. The man walked forward as he revved up the buckle as he would a normal motorcycle.

_**Accel**_

Red energy formed into pistons that surrounded the man in a ring of them. The energies crashed into him, forming a bulky crimson armor that was now gaining fame as the description of Fuuto's second kamen rider, Kamen Rider Accel.

Accel walked up to the sword and pulled it out with relative ease. He said, "Now.", he began smoothly with an over head spin of the sword. "Let's swing this around.".


	2. Chapter 2

_**Folder 2 : Bust Out the B / Monster Amongst Men**_

_It hurts, it really hurts_

Teo could do nothing against the onslaught of attacks from kamen rider Accel who had just arrived no more than a minute ago. The heavy EngineBlade bit down hard against the diamond armor that encased the dopant, doing more than just scratching the surface. One last strike sent the inexperienced fighter flying into a heap.

"About time I finished this.", the red rider pulled out a gray memory with an E on it.

_**Engine**_

The heavy EngineBlade broke open like a shotgun to admit the corresponding memory within it. A flick of the wrist closed the weapon while the pull of the trigger caused it to summon up a huge amount of energy.

_**Maximum Drive**_

Teo felt the heat in the air flowing out from the area around the rider. An immense amount of energy was being generated and the fallen dopant could feel every single joule of it taunting his powerless form.

He struggled on unsteady feet, breathing a prayer that this would all end without anyone dying. From the looks of things, he doubted it very much. "I'm… dead.", he spoke out loud.

Accel seemed taken aback from the sudden declaration. He cancelled the maximum drive at the last minute before he could initiate the deadly three strikes to his ultimate move. "You…", the rider called out. "What's your name?", he interrogated the dopant.

It wasn't typical of Terui Ryu, kamen rider Accel, to take interest in the lives of others, especially not dopants. This being before him however was unlike the dopants he had fought before. He realized it since he had begun the fight. "Are you hurt?", he added after careful scrutiny of his hypothesis.

Teo could not answer. His body was sore already from before his fight with the dopant that attacked Fuyumi, the two consecutive battles that followed were now pushing his body to its limits. All he could do to answer the rider was to step back gingerly.

This subtle movement quickly clued the police officer in that this dopant was seriously injured. "Don't worry.", he stabbed the EngineBlade deep into the earth. "I'll wash your guilt and your sin away.", he placed his hand on the maximum clutch on the Acceldriver.

_**Maximum Drive**_

It looked like this would be the end. Teo could feel it. Despite the lack of firepower in comparison to the first charge, he knew this attack would still be enough to defeat him. At the very least, he would survive. The fear he had before was erased and replaced with pure calm.

_**Then what of the girl?**_

_What?_

_**Do you believe **_**he **_**would let this slide so easily?**_

_Him…_

_Terror_

The diamond dopant's unseen eyes snapped forward. Accel was already in mid-jump when the crystalline being had come to his senses. As the Accel's attack, the AccelGlanzer, came right at him from the right temple, the dopant brought up one arm to block against the reverse crescent kick strike. It knocked him flying into the forest edging the sand-covered clearing.

In the undergrowth of the bushes, Teo lay there barely conscious. The diamond memory had already removed itself from his body and was clutched tightly in his hand. Somehow, both had survived the memory break.

_**That's right. Survive and grow, to surpass the limits of life itself.**_

_Such a thing…I don't need it…_

The sound of heavy boots crunched the nearby foliage. "That sound.", Teo breathed apprehensively. A quick peek had proven his theory that Accel had come searching for him.

"I can't be caught.", the injured boy thought with determination. "There's still something I need to do.", with those feelings in his heart he began to move as stealthily as his battered body could go.

Slowly Teo crawled against the tall foliage that covered him, praying against all the laws of physics that whatever movements he made would not transfer to the foliage. That hope was not in vain as through some divine intervention, he had made it about 3 feet without making a ripple in the shrubbery. Despite the successful deception about what was above, he neglected what was below and the loud crunch of dried leaves against his hands could be heard in the greenery.

The telltale clangs of armor sounded with every step that was taken. Teo swore that his heart was growing quieter as each clang grew louder. When the steps stopped and the young man looked up, a scream threatened to rip out his lungs.

_Move!_

Teo demanded his body for any sort of motion. It did not respond, all that he could do was to stare right at the rider, waiting to be discovered.

It was just when the red warrior was about to take one more step forward that he heard a groan. He looked back and saw the girl lying on the sand, clearly in discomfort and weakened. Another quick glance around the area told him that there was nothing more to be found.

Once the sounds of snapping twigs ceased and the slosh of sand replaced all other, Teo released a great sigh of relief he didn't remember holding. He turned back to check on Fuyumi's state. He saw the rider in red check her pulse, and any injuries that may have been incurred before carrying her off.

"She's safe", Teo gathered before grasping at his wounds. He remembered the rider showing concern over them, switching over to a weaker attack for his sake. "I hope.".

* * *

The Asakawa house was silent. All its occupants were out for their day's business. That is all but one.

"Urk!", Teo grimaced as he tightly bandaged his salve slathered wounds with gauze. The young man sighed sitting with at the couch with only his pants on. He had long discarded his top wear in order to treat his own wounds. His legs were battered but not quite as bad as his body. In his state, it could be called a miracle that no one had noticed his half limping, half crawling self traveling the necessary twelve blocks from the park back home.

Slowly, Teo reached out for the polo shirt strewn over the table along with a quarter of the first aid kit's contents. He slowly buttoned up, thinking back to earlier. The fight was tough, but he had survived and kept Fuyumi safe no less.

The fingers that had been busy pushing buttons through their respective holes now lay still on the youth's lap. He had almost killed her. Teo remembered how the thing, the feelings of ecstasy were clouding his mind.

_**Kill! Destroy! Go wild! We were born to evolve and rule all!**_

Teo gripped his fists tight. The overwhelming power had gotten the better of him. Whatever it was that woke him up from that poisonous dream, it had his thanks. He might have done something that he would definitely regret for as long as he lived. The problem remained though. He let his eyes roam towards his jacket on the table, more precisely the bulge where one of its inside pockets were. He would have to use that memory again, that was for sure. When that time came, could he control himself?

Teo shook his head free of the thoughts. Right now, he could have no doubts. The dopant from earlier knew Fuyumi-see-san. She would be in danger again because it didn't look the type to give up so easily. Clearly it had wanted her for a reason, but he did not hear what the monster was muttering about exactly.

A knock on the door distracted the injured youth from his thoughts. "Who could that be?", Teo thought apprehensively. No one would be here at this time of day, unless that was nee-san! Teo quickly finished buttoning his shirt before making a mad dash for the door. "Nee-san!", he called out.

It was a good thing that Teo's reflexes were fast enough for him to stop himself from accidentally brushing his lips against the cold steel of a police badge.

"Terui Ryuu.", the familiar man in hot-rod red leathers introduced himself in deadpan. Ryuu stuffed his badge back in his coat pocket before asking a question, "Can I assume that you're looking for your sister?".

"Oh…", Teo fell quiet after recognizing the man. He wasn't sure if he could talk to this person honestly. At first, in the park he thought that he could tell this person everything, come clean even but knowing he was part of the police changed things. It scared him… Gon's father had been a ranked officer amongst the Fuuto Police Department. It was one of the reasons they could beat him half to death in broad daylight and the law did nothing to put a stop to it. Now that Gon was dead, his paranoia that the father would take revenge grew.

Terui lifted an eyebrow. "Is something the matter?", he asked the young man.

"N-no.", Teo shook his head, "It's nothing. I'm just worried about Fuyumi-nee-san.". He spoke with sincerity but he made sure to think as he spoke. The response he received was a rather disbelieving glare. "We both got out for school this morning!", he piped up before the policeman could get anymore suspicious. "We normally walk together but she had archery practice today and she was running late so we took a shortcut through Ayumi Park. I lost sight of her there.".

"I see.", Ryuu mentally noted the fact. "I'd like to ask you a few more questions. Do you mind coming with me down to the precinct?", he asked the young man.

Teo was already tense enough but merely mentioning the police department sent him stock stiff. The officer at the door showed no sign of acknowledging the reaction.

"Is anything the matter?", the police superintendent raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Ah… no…", the jittery youth replied lamely. "I'm just not comfortable with police stations.", he professed. The man at the door gave no response beyond staring coolly, waiting for an elaborate explanation. Teo caught on and gave a short condensed version, "It's not that I've been on the wrong side of the law before, it's just that authority has been a bit unkind to me as of late.". The youth scratched his head awkwardly hoping that the sudden oppressive interrogating stare being aimed at him would go away.

The cold man did something unexpected and tilted his head forward in a slight bow. "I must apologize then for my co-worker's behavior.", Ryuu raised his head and pointed at the bandages stuck to the injured youth's face, "Is that their doing?".

"Oh these?", Teo quickly brought his hands up to the thick patches of cotton and gauze on his face. "These were from yesterday.", he smiled sheepishly, "I usually get caught in all sorts of trouble, you know? Mugging, violent outbursts, stuff like that. It was just one of those days.". The last thing Teo needed was Ryou and the others getting more violent than necessary if they heard about the city's hounds snooping about.

"I'll ask you to ID them later.", Ryuu sighed. "For now I'd like to inform you that your sister is safe. I can take you to her but we need you to answer some questions will that be any problem?", the policeman put on his business front.

"Um… no, no problem at all.", Teo shook his head, desperately trying to hide the trembling nerves in his voice. "Wait here for just a moment.", he told the man and quickly closed the door to gather whatever he would need. His school blazer was on in an instant with the Diamond memory stowed safely in his pocket. His wallet and celphone were already in his pants as well as house keys. One swoop over the living room table was all it took for him to tidy up all the medical supplies he had used in treating himself.

Teo stepped out to the porch where Ryuu was waiting patiently in rigid attention. This further frayed the youth's nerves who fumbled with the keys a bit before finally locking up successfully.

"If you're quite done then we'll be on our way.", the police officer turned curtly, leading the way to his Diablorosso, a sleek red machine of two wheels with unparalleled speed.

"Wait up a bit!", Teo struggled to catch up to the man's steely pace.

Terui handed him a helmet before straddling his bike. He waited for the shift in weight to tell him that the younger boy had already gotten on but it never came. He looked back over his shoulder to check on the hold up.

Teo just stood there dumbly with the helmet in his hands, quite unsure of what to do.

The law enforcer palmed his visor. "Have you never ridden a motorcycle before?", he asked the youth.

The young man vehemently shook his head.

"How about a bicycle?", Terui tried again.

Once more a shake of the head was the reply.

Clearly one thought was in the policeman's mind. 'You've got to be kidding me.'. "Well there's a first time for everything.", he growled. "Just get on and hold tight.".

The young man quickly did as told, under the watchful supervision of Terui of course. He held on tightly for dear life and they hadn't even moved yet.

"Not me dammit!"

* * *

Narumi Detective Agency was never a quiet place, even though its occupants had bouts of silent enjoyment for the afternoons, it was mostly boisterous. It was even more so whenever the door opened.

"I'm sorry! I'm really bad with going fast!"

Terui remained silent, trying to see if he broke a few ribs in the last fifteen minutes as he entered the office of his rider-in-arms. The officer just leaned against the arch that separated the reception table from the work desk of the detective.

The sound of another door opening admitted a man who was dressed in a snappy 40's style complete with vest and fedora. "Oi Terui, you look like hell. Someone beat you up?", the sentence starting off concerned but ended in a sarcastic jeer.

The hurt man just glared right back at the half-boiled detective before grinding out, "Shut up Hidari.". With that Ryuu quickly regained his composure and acted as if he had not bruised or broken any bones near his sternum-abdominal areas.

Once again the door that Teo couldn't seem to locate sounded again whilst he was busy gawking around at the shabby office. "She's awake.", a female reported.

"Thank you chief.", Terui nodded in the female's direction.

Teo snapped his attention back at them and watched the police officer enter through a door that had a collection of fedoras hung on it. The injured youth had previously assumed it to just being another wall. "Who's awake?", Teo asked the two remaining occupants.

"Asakawa Fuyumi.", the girl he only knew as "chief" told Teo.

"Nee-san's here?", the youth exclaimed. He stepped forward with surprising speed and grabbed the girl by the arms. "Please tell me, where is she?".

The chief just seemed to be stunned as she couldn't quite speak out of the sudden breach of her personal space, besides maybe a splutter of "ah"'s and "um"'s.

"Settle down kid.", Hidari stepped in to save the girl from Teo's unconsciously strong grip. "Let Akiko go so I can show you where we keep her.".

The youth let Akiko go. He turned to the half-boiled detective before saying, "What do you mean keep?".

Hidari just kept silent as he opened the door that was covered up by the fedora collection. Teo followed right behind him while Akiko took the tail of the troop. "Seems as if she was targeted by a dopant, she woke up only for a few moments. The few words she garbled out were enough for us to gather the situation.".

Teo remained quiet. He was looking around in awe of all the mechanical devices as well as great amount of information written all over the white boards spread along the walls. Once he could tear himself away however his eyes fell upon the still form of his sister bundled up on a couch in the corner of the garage. "Nee-san!", he pushed away the man in front of him, almost sending the detective on a six foot drop to painful cement flooring.

Hidari regained his balance before shouting out, "Oi! That's dangerous!".

The youth ignored the scolding sent his way. Instead he knelt down beside his sister, breathing easier once he realized that Fuyumi was in no way physically harmed. He watched her eyes slowly open until they finally focused on him.

"Teo.", the words left her lips in disbelief. She looked at him as if she was unsure whether he was real or a dream. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve. "Teo…", she repeated, "It's really Teo.". Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes.

Instinctually, the young man covered his adoptive sister in a big hug as he let her cry away from the view of others. "It's alright nee-san, I'm here now.", he tried to calm the distraught girl.

"Teo.", she echoed her earlier call. "Teo, Teo, Teo…", she just kept saying.

The rest of the people in the room decided to give them their time. A few minutes passed before Fuyumi finally stopped her tears enough to be coherent. "I'm glad you're alright.", she sobbed into the young man. "He said he was going to kill you.".

Teo remained silent, feeling Fuyumi's shivering in his arms, it wasn't cause of the cold either. He held her firmly, an instinctive need to hurt the dopant that caused her this distress and protectiveness both mingling together into one confusing impulse.

"Excuse me.", a sheepish sounding intervention cut through all the drama. The girl called chief and named Akiko stepped forward. "My name is Narumi Akiko, chief of Narumi Detective Agency.", she introduced herself. "If you'd please, we would like to help you with this problem.", the female detective-wannabe offered. "For a price of course.", she added in.

A smack to the head with a green slipper and the man called Hidari intervened in a timely fashion before the two teens could peg their newfound acquaintances as seedy. "Akiko!", he shouted at her comically, "don't give them the wrong impression of us for the love of-".

He was interrupted however by the same slipper this time wielded by Akiko. "Don't you hit me again baka-Shotaro!", she shouted back in turn.

"Only idiots call other people idiots.", Shotaro towered over her.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, only elementary school students say that kind of thing.", Akiko shot back.

"Quiet.", the strict and much annoyed voice of Terui cut through all the hullabaloo. He turned his attention to the two teens. "Unlike these two.", he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the oblivious duo who were still throwing silent glares and insults at each other. "Me and Phillip over here.", he introduced himself as well as a feminine looking boy over by the whiteboards, "are very competent. We would like your assistance in the capture of the dopant that you encountered just earlier.".

"What kind of assistance?", Teo questioned, holding his sister close as possible.

"Information.", the young man at the white boards suddenly cut in. He snapped his open book shut as he approached them. "We would appreciate any information you could provide. If possible we'd like to establish the criminal's gaia memory at the very least.".

"Gaia… memory?", Fuyumi paused her tears to ask.

"Ahem", Shotaro stepped in once more. "A-"

"Gaia memories are illegal technology that is being distributed within Fuuto city.", Terui informed, "They turn people into monsters like the one you saw earlier this morning. We call them dopants.".

"Dopant… that was a dopant.", Fuyumi processed this. "So it wasn't really a monster… just a person using a gaia memory.".

"Yes.", Philip confirmed. "Now if you'd please. What could you tell us about this dopant?".

"Wait.", Fuyumi shook her head as she slowly pushed away from Teo. "Let's get something straight. I'll help you but you have to do something for me as well.", she told them.

Terui shook his head as he grumbled, "As long as it's reasonable.".

"Please make sure you catch that person.", Fuyumi said solidly. Her eyes seemed to zone out while conflicting emotions played out on her features. "That monster, truth be told, has been stalking me for months.", she confessed to them.

"What?", Hidari Shotaro stepped towards the girl. "It's been stalking you?".

The frightened girl nodded. "I see it around sometimes, not clearly but its shadow, the sound of the sand that covers it. It's everywhere, it's scary.", she covered her head, trying to keep it from shaking as much as her body did. "Sometimes I get letters by my window sill, filled with a note and sand, other times it's a withered rose that shatters at my touch. I don't like it.".

_She's mine!_

Teo suddenly remembered the dopant declaring such. He balled up his fists as some sort of conclusion formed in his mind.

"Don't worry _my sweet angel_.", Shotaro said the last three words in english. "We'll definitely find this creep and put him behind bars.", he reassured Fuyumi, reaching for the girl's smaller hands and giving them a comforting squeeze.

Once again the green slipper struck the detective over his fedora. Akiko held said house item like a weapon as she reprimanded him, "Hitting on minors is a crime!".

Shotaro quickly recovered and shot back, "Then you'll never get a relationship you middle-school impersonator.".

"What did you call me?", Akiko half-screamed.

"Middle. School. Impersonator.", Shotaro jabbed his index finger in her face after every word for emphasis. "I'll say it again if you still can't hear me."

What happened next could only be described as a one-sided cat fight massacre with the half-boiled detective on the worse end.

The leather clad man of the room turned to the teens and said, "Just ignore them.".

Seeing that the only other sane crime buster in the place was heavily stressed, Philip decided to take the helm of this conversation again. "So what can you tell us about the dopant?", he asked the two teens that had made their way to the couch.

"That depends", Teo responded for the both of them. "What is it you want to know?".

"For one thing, can I ask you when this whole stalking business began?", Philip drew up close to the two.

"About a month ago.", Fuyumi answered.

"Interesting.", Philip nodded to himself. "Could you describe the dopant?", he asked them with a sudden in-your-face lunge, one that almost sent Teo crashing to the floor.

"I…", Fuyumi faltered. She held strong as she recounted the frightening being, "He looked like a mummy, wrapped up in a lot of bandages. I remember there being lots of sand, like whatever he touched turned to it. There was also a sandstorm. Sorry I can't really remember with all the dirt in the air.". The frightened girl apologized to the human archive.

"No, that should be enough. You've been through a lot.", Terui told the teens. "I'd think it best for you two to stay here for awhile, that dopant might attack again.", the police officer advised.

Both the feminine looking boy and the police officer began to discuss the data given to them. Philip seemingly going into a sort of trance which left Teo and Fuyumi a certain sense of privacy since the half-boiled detective and his chief were still at each other's throats.

"Stay here nee-san.", Teo started as he threw the blanket on the couch over his sister. "It'll be safer here with those two, they seemed to deal with these things on a regular basis.", the young man told her with a reassuring smile.

Fuyumi was unsettled as she latched onto the young man, "What about you?".

Teo sighed, he knew his sister wasn't dim. She'd caught on that he had something in mind immediately. "School.", he replied as cheerfully as he could.

"But it's dangerous.", she scolded him despite her position as the dopant's target. "And you might be in danger as well.", she added sadly.

"It's alright.", he reassured his sister for the umpteenth time. "I'll be fine. I'm sure he whatever that thing was, it won't attack such a crowded place.".

Fuyumi still had her doubts but resigned in the end, "Fine, but be careful."

Teo smiled, "I'm always careful.".

* * *

It felt odd to be out of class for once. That was how Teo felt as he wandered the corridors of Kirikaze high school, a school that was famous for its athletic clubs a focal point of which was the archery club which had been in shambles until Asakawa Fuyumi had breathed life into the place. The school was originally known for its violent students but encouragement of sports gave some delinquents an outlet, though they mostly ended up in the boxing club, karate club or any other club that involved someone getting hurt, preferably the opponent.

"Thank you very much.", Teo bowed to the doctor in the infirmary from the doorway. The teacher had taken one look at him and screamed when he entered the classroom. It was normal for Teo to be beat up as he entered class but from the looks of the young man it was like he had just been the victim of a frustrated homicide. Needless to say he had been automatically sent to the school infirmary.

The youth wandered around the corridors, letting his mind continue where it left off in his house, the dopant from the park. So far, the short morning trip to the detective agency told him that this person was already being pursued by proper authorities. There would be no need for him to look into things anymore.

_**Do you really think those idiots could beat that thing?**_

The voice was back, this time its presence seemed stronger, must be because of the use of the memory. The pressure building in the teen's head was so great that it warranted him leaning on a wall just to keep on his feet. "Shut up.", Teo grit his teeth.

_**It'll beat them and they won't be able to protect her.**_

"One of them is a kamen rider, and most likely the other rider was amongst them too. There's no such dopant that can beat two riders at once.", Teo reasoned with heavy breaths. The pressure in his head shifted and turned into something he wasn't prepared for, pure euphoria.

_**I can**_

The voice chuckled darkly.

_**In a later state at least, as we are now and your lousy grasp of our true powers we would be overwhelmed.**_

"Then you expect me to go up against something that can take those two down? Your logic is lousy.", Teo fought to get a good grip of his senses and head on home. It wasn't safe for the school as he felt like he was becoming mentally unstable. The voice's chuckle did not cease.

_**That dead beat may defeat the riders but it would make the perfect stepping stone for us.**_

"You're lying, there's no way we can beat that thing if it really does beat two riders. One on his own would be more than enough.", the teen made his way through the corridors, trying to block out all the random emotions that felt unlike his own though at the same time seeping into every crevice of his self like they belonged.

_**You're disillusioned by their power just because one caught us off guard.**_

"You're the one disillusioned, you think your power can overcome everything."

_**Not my power, our power…**_

The voice trailed off letting the change in pronouns sink in. Teo could only repeat the last phrase to himself.

_**Yes, our power. You remember don't you? That feeling when we were the diamond dopant?**_

Teo closed his eyes. Yes, he remembered it clearly, almost too clearly for his taste. How close had he gone? How close was he to killing someone who had always looked out for him? Meant so much to him? The young man could only say two words to the taunts of the dark voice in his head. "Shut up."

Finally the young man burst onto the open campus grounds, his fists shaking in a mix of fury and loss of control. Teo could feel the dark influence trying to warp him. He tried to fight it off, but before he could even cross the school gates, a powerful blast of wind and sand lifted him off his feet. The teen could barely yelp out in surprise before he was cut off by spluttering out sand in his throat.

It was as brief as it was noisy, by the time people had wrenched open their windows to see what had caused the noise, there was nothing left but a slight trail of dust blowing in the air.

What everyone didn't notice was the fact the sand storm had been extracted to the athletic fields, the athletic fields being the grounds where the various sports complexes for the clubs stood. No expense was spared as proven by the grasslands that extended at least 3 hectares. Teo tried hard to remember to thank whoever coughed up the money as he was unceremoniously dumped onto the lush greens.

"How many times have I been thrown to the ground today?", he muttered to himself as he struggled onto a vertical base. When he did however, he imagined that maybe laying down and pretending to be dead would have been better, because he was in no condition to deal with what was in front of him right now.

The dopant from this morning stood in front of him with all the horrific details from the armor down to the bandages to the sand that leaked from said wrappings. Sand still swirled behind it, as it lunged forward and grabbed the injured youth by the collar and throwing said youth against a tree.

Teo took whatever strength was left in his body after being winded twice and grabbed hold of the arm that pinned him down to the tree by the throat just seconds after being slammed into it. It did little more than amuse the dopant whose sewn mouth look like it was curling into a smirk. The one white eye's flaunting glint did not help matters.

A rage that felt as foreign as it was familiar took over Teo. He could only hear the dark voice in his mind rage before his hands moved of their own accord.

"Bastard.", the pinned youth snarled without really meaning to. His hands moved with alacrity too much unlike his own as he grabbed the gaia memory in his pocket and plugged it into his wrist bio-connector.

_**Diamond**_

A shimmer of light took over Teo's body as power coursed through his very being. He kicked out and made very solid contact with the sandy dopant's abdomen. It sent the creature tumbling back until it fell ungracefully on its back.

The light soon faded and the familiar crystal belt and antennae signaled the return of the diamond dopant.

"**Now."**, the diamond dopant spoke up. **"Let's clear things up.".**

A clear sound reminiscent of a sword being drawn sounded as Teo let his right arm morph into a long and very sharp blade that extended four feet including the six inches that stretched out where his elbow should have been. He charged forward with intent to cut the sandy dopant right in half. He succeeded as the blade completely lopped off the top half from the waist up from pretty much everything else as the sandy dopant was just getting on its feet.

_**Not yet**_

Teo pulled up his left arm to block his face as a torrent of sand blasted right where his nose should have been, the force of the attack strong enough to send him flying back just as he did the dopant much earlier in mid-transformation.

The sandy dopant did not look kindly upon being lopped into two pieces, clearly so as it shot another torrent of sand from its other arm. Teo could make out the tan granules forming together what looked to be a fist. His distraction left him open as the sand fist planted itself in his face.

The diamond dopant flinched but countered quickly with a volley of crystal daggers from the left arm. The daggers missed however, stabbing themselves harmlessly into the ground while the sandy dopant dissipated into the wind and reformed mid-air. Two arms of whispering sands gathered before being thrown forward.

The double torrent was exponentially bigger than the single ones. Teo did not bother with dodging the hit, but neither did he fancy taking it. He stabbed both of his arms into the ground, in the blink of en eye they had morphed into thick trunk like roots as the liquid crystal surged into the loose soil. In less than half a second, a wall of diamond separated the transformed teen from the dirt doom that awaited him.

There wasn't long to wait anyway, the barrier which had been erected so quickly and haphazardly couldn't contain the full force of the attack and fell only seconds after it stood. The weakened remains of the attack smashed into Teo, burying him underneath a dune.

The sandy dopant landed softly as its hovering feet could allow. It glided over to the dune, watching for signs of life.

A hand burst out from the top of it all, a human hand at that. The cheerful tone of the school bell that signaled recess felt almost ominous. The dopant smirked, its work was done. It laxly undid its transformation and walked away without a care in the world. On the ground however remained a single black feather.

* * *

**Some time earlier…**

"What a grim breeze.", Shotaro held his fedora down as a chilling gust blew against his face. So far from the keywords that had been gathered, Philip had come up with a couple of names, all of which were high school students. Ofcourse that was as far as Philip could go before he was sidetracked by a hobby of one of them, something about differences in plumage.

Right now, the young detective sat at the quaint riverside café by Fuuto river. Great view, great coffee, and of course he couldn't deny the great service as he just had to respond to one of the waitress's advances. He didn't reply in positive, she was still a minor. This place was the usual meeting spot between the detective and his local high school liaisons.

"Sho-chan!", a comfortably shrill voice called out Shotaro's most popular nickname.

The detective looked towards the source, unable to hide the friendly smile that broke on his face. "Elizabeth!", he got up to meet one of the girl's he had come to meet. "How've you been? Been a while right? About a month.".

Elizabeth is a high school girl attending one of the more prestigious schools within Fuuto. She's quite cute and is no doubt a heartbreaker when it comes to guys, though it has nothing to do with a bad personality besides being a little more flirty than the regular girl.

"I missed you!", Elizabeth ran forward and hugged the breath right out of Shotaro.

An exasperated sigh followed that proclamation, "You miss any guy you can get your mits on.". Another high school girl approached the table.

"That's really mean Queen.", Elizabeth whined. "Just because we're twin sisters doesn't mean you can be so mean!", the flirty girl stuck her tongue out at her sister.

Queen just rolled her eyes and roughly grabbed up a seat. Queen was by no means a tomboy, she was most definitely a girlas a girl could ever be. She's just a little frigid compared to most. Being twins with Elizabeth, one could immediately say she was cute, however her personality keeps her from getting boyfriends even if they do flock to her because of it.

Once everyone was seated, Shotaro didn't waste anytime as he began his line of questioning. "Queen, Elizabeth, Can you guys tell me about the situation of an Asakawa Fuyumi?", he asked them. He pulled out a note pad that contained the list of names Philip gave him. "Also her connection to some other people namely Kuchida Gon, Hatsuma Koga, Kokoryu Shindou, Sakazuki Yamamori.".

Queen and Elizabeth looked at each other and quickly shook their heads.

"I don't think you should get in the middle of all that Sho-chan.", Elizabeth looked a bit disturbed by the information being asked of them.

"That's right.", Queen continued as she received her order of a tropic smoothie from the waitress. "That group right there makes way too much drama, even TV soaps would be put to shame.".

This raised the detectives eyebrow in curiosity. "Drama?", he echoed the lone word.

"Yeah.", Queen nodded.

"Asakawa Fuyumi right? She's a straight up nice girl. Pretty, smart, athletic, something like a perfect girl. Tons of guys like her and lots of girls want to be like her. She's something like a character pulled right out of a manga.", the flirtier of the twins took a depressing sip at her drink.

Queen continued. "Of course with the perfect heroine we get the perfect villain, that's where Kuchida Gon comes in. Kuchida Gon was a no good scumbag as far as everyone in the area was concerned. He had a good boy image all because of his father's prestigious place within the Fuuto Police Department. No one messed with him and got away without a few scars.", the girl finished with an indifferent shrug as she also dug in to her drink. Her twitching fingers on the straw told otherwise of what she thought about the whole thing.

"I see, wait… was?", Shotaro asked them when he noticed the slight grammatical error.

Queen nodded in confirmation, "That's right, was.".

"Kuchida Gon…", Elizabeth trailed off, losing a bit of steam about the fishy affair.

"He was reported in missing two months ago.", Queen finished for her sister. "He's been classified as missing but that's what it says on record, everyone believes he's dead.".

Shotaro grimaced, that was a grim end to that lead. He tipped his hat down in respect, because no matter the villain they still deserved some respect in passing. "What about Hatsuma Koga?", the detective tried again.

Elizabeth curled up her nose in disgust. "A no class tasteless thug.", she immediately declared with a look that made her seem like she wanted to vomit. "Looks at girls like a piece of meat and Gon's former right hand man.".

"Not to mention he's taken over his Gon's gang only a week or two after the official declaration, as well as lusting after Fuyumi.", Queen added in for good measure.

"They 'lusted' after Fuyumi?", Shotaro was taken aback. Kids these days were already like that?

Queen confirmed as she continued, "It's no secret to everyone that Fuyumi is attractive, it's also no secret to the local schools of what kind of nasty things Gon and Koga wished they could do to her, I mean they pretty much declare it front and center everywhere, bragging about how they'd want her being their slave and such. It was sickening.", the more mature twin shuddered.

"You can say that again.", Elizabeth backed her sister's words.

"So Gon and Koga are pretty much similar in relation to Fuyumi, do you know where I can find Koga?", Shotaro asked the girls.

"Umm… about that…", Queen looked a bit squeamish.

"Koga and his gang, they sort of got beat up.", Elizabeth looked equally ill to her sister.

"We were supposed to get here earlier but a friend of ours told us that something happened to Koga's gang. We didn't get to see them but we saw the scene since it wasn't far off from where we were at the time.", Queen explained.

Elizabeth had grown a few shades paler as the next words left her lips, "There was blood, lots and lots of dried blood. I didn't even want to imagine what it looked like any fresher.".

"Thankfully no one died. Though I can't say they don't deserve it, I think no one should be put through so much, not even them.", Queen said solemnly.

"There goes another lead. Two probable suspects down the drain and now I'm only left with another two to investigate.", Shotaro cursed mentally. "No helping it, what about Kokoryu Shindou?", the detective questioned with hopes for good news.

"A straight arrow if I ever saw one.", Queen instantly replied.

A girly coo from Elizabeth made Shotaro wince, calling his attention to her. "Literally too. He's the ace of the male division in the same archery club Fuyumi is in. His shots never miss but I think he shot cupid's arrow too wide and hit my heart!".

Shotaro was now questioning the sanity of his informants, they were usually weird but rarely so weird as this.

The sensible twin just shook her head. "Kokoryu Shindou is a senior, good kid, an A student so to speak. He's applied under working scholarship but he could have gotten either academic or athletic scholarships. He's also got tons of fangirls, like this one over here.", Queen jabbed a thumb in her sister's direction.

"But he's so handsome!", Elizabeth squealed. "Not to mention the way he looks at you. He's so tall that it would seem like he's looking down at you but his eyes don't make you feel that way. He's very helpful around the community as well, just last weekend I saw him guiding an old couple while helping them with their luggage. Then last week he…".

Shotaro rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He noticed Queen calling for his attention. Taking a peek at Elizabth and finding her enjoying the endless stream of praises that came out of her mouth for the guy, he decided to lean slightly towards Queen's direction and reply, "What?".

The high school girl leaned in as well and hissed, "She'll be like this for another good hour or two so listen good. The last guy, Sakazuki Yamamori is a rich kid, can't miss'em really. Not as famous but he's also a member of the archery club and the third best at that, the first being Fuyumi while second is Shindou. Yamamori and Shindou are actually friends and normally gain advice from each other concerning archery technique. Some might say they're even good friends. You should try looking for them at Kirikaze high, they should still be there at this time.".

A smile broke across Shotaro's face. "Thanks.", he tipped his hat to her. "I'll head on over right now.", he stood up to leave. He took five paces before turning back and putting money on the table. "My treat.", he winked at the only one paying attention amongst the twins.

* * *

"Shindou-sempai? Yeah he's a good friend of mine.", a young bespectacled man in a kyuudo practitioner's gi confirmed. He looked quite dignified and bred with the finest pedigree. He was most definitely Sakazuki Yamamori, the one Queen pointed out as a rich boy.

The sound of arrows in the background non-withstanding, it was pretty quiet so it was easy to talk in the Archery clubhouse of Kirikaze high. Shotaro nodded his head, "Great, Yamamori can you tell me how he gets along with Fuyumi Asakawa?".

"Shindou-sempai and Fuyumi-sempai's connection is a bit complicated.", Yamamori scratched his head. His bare feet tapped against the finely polished wooden boards on the floor. "You see the two of them aren't exactly close but they know each other well enough to be friends, though it's actually just acquaintanceship. People mistake this as for them being an item and encourage them to become a couple. Lately it's gotten so bad that the two of them seem to have silently resolved to ignore each other unless it is necessary to interact. The club's atmosphere is really awkward because of it.", the archery club member sighed.

"I see thanks.", Shotaro made some notes of what was said. "So besides the rumors, they're actually on good terms?".

"Hmm? Oh yeah, they are. They're still a little distracted if one is in the room with the other but nothing bad enough to affect their performance.", the high schooler stepped up to the arrow racks and began to sort through them for any damaged pieces.

"What about you?", Shotaro asked.

"Hmm?", the young man looked up, "What about me?". He did not pause in his thorough examination of the equipment, tossing to the side at least three arrows that had missing or badly damaged vanes.

The half-boiled detective scratched the back of his head. He hoped that this wouldn't be all that difficult but high school and the adult world were different. He just sighed, "What's your relation with Asakawa Fuyumi?".

Now this had made him pause. "Relation with Fuyumi-sempai? I have no idea how that came to your mind.", Yamamori laughed before he continued to sort through the arrows. "I'm little more than the regular underclassman to her. A stranger would be more appropriate if we discussed how she would see me.", he shrugged.

"So no connection.", Shotaro asked for affirmation.

"None that are relevant.", the unblinking youth supplied.

So in the end all Shotaro was left with was Shindou. He stared at his notepad, scrounging up for anything that he or his partner might have missed. Sure they still had Shindou on the list of suspicious people but hearing what others had to say about him didn't seem to fit the bill for a gaia memory user. He sounded like some perfect guy that could hold his own in all facets of life.

"Will that be all Mr. Detective?", Yamamori asked Shotaro before pulling out another quiver's worth to evaluate.

"Oh! Uh right, could you err…", Shotaro grasped at straws. There was something in his gut that told him that something was not right with this picture. "Could you tell me about Kuchida Gon and Hatsuma Koga?", he suddenly spluttered out.

The rich boy snorted in an arrogant manner. "Those two?", disgust dripped from his voice. "So your interested in how they're related to Fuyumi-sempai or about the details of their incidents?", Yamamori spoke with an attitude that turned from mild-mannered polite to venomously hostile.

Shotaro felt that new life was being breathed into the case. "Either way I want to know more about them and their gang.", the PI tried.

"Scoundrels, each and every one of them, they like to pick on people mostly by extortion and blackmail. Sometimes they even pick off some unsuspecting kid just to beat them up for kicks. Whoever got to them and the way they did it, I'd have to thank them for doing such a thing.", bitter words escaped Yamamori's lips. It seemed like there was some sort of grudge between them. "Regarding Fuyumi-sempai's situation with them, they wanted her to be with them badly as far as I heard. I and Shindou-sempai have been very worried about her dealings with them. Each one getting more violent than the last.".

"Wait, violent?", Shotaro interrupted. "They attacked her?", he asked incredulously.

The high schooler nodded. "It's true. They would attack her from time to time but she never came out on the worse end, the various club leaders ranging from Karate to Jujitsu can vouch for her skills.", the young man reassured the elder.

"But still, if they attack her often, no matter her skill she'd fall at some point.", Shotaro now completely absorbed in the story.

"Again true.", Yamamori nodded. "We already told her of this but she informed us that attacks on her rarely ever happened anyway so we needn't worry too much for her.".

"So they gave up?"

"No.", a shake of the head emphasized the point. "They tried a new approach. If they couldn't get to her directly then they would try to get to her through someone who already was with her from the start. The target shifted to her adoptive brother, Kagami Teo.".

"Kagami Teo?", Shotaro repeated. He felt like he'd heard the name before. The image of a young man with unkempt black hair with silvery onyx eyes came to mind. The image connected as the face of the young man in his office awhile ago. "Asakawa Teo!?", he suddenly shouted in surprise, causing half the archery club to miss their shots at that moment. The half-boild detective gave a quick stream of apologies to all the glares he received before turning back to the corporate heir before him in a professional manner. "So they began to attack Kagami Teo, which has gone on for a long time I presume?".

"Almost too long.", Yamamori sighed, "He usually shows up with a lot of cuts and bruises to pick up his sister but it would get so bad Fuyumi-sempai had to save him. Some other times, I've even seen Fuyumi-sempai crying about Teo dying or some other. I didn't get to hear very well, she'd been confiding to Shindou-sempai about the happenings at that time I guess.".

"Hmm… This Shindou.", Shotaro rubbed his chin. At first this whole thing didn't sound too serious beyond the dopant, but knowing the extremes of this high school drama, maybe Shindou was a little too righteous. Righteous enough to use gaia memories for his own maverick justice. "Do you know where I can find Shindou?".

Yamamori turned to Shotaro with a shrug, "I could tell you where he lives, though I doubt you'd get much of a different story from him.".

"Oh I have a few questions which I think only he can answer.", the young detective had a confident smile on his face.

"Let me draw you a map, the way is a bit tricky truth be told.", the bespectacled boy handed Shotaro the arrows that were being inspected, while the detective handed him the notebook flipped to a blank page. "Be careful with those, their Shindou-sempai's personal arrows.", he warned Shotaro.

"Personal arrows?", the detective gave the pieces of wood in his hand a good look see. They were very traditional and well made, except for the vanes at the butt. He took one hand and ran a finger over them. He mumbled out two words in confusion, "Black feathers.".

* * *

The sun was setting and darkness was making its nest upon the city of Fuuto. Many were scurrying to their homes or off to enjoy the night life that made the arcade districts within the city so popular.

A young man with straight hair that drooped down and around his head in a fashionable fall of black, it reached just above his shoulders in an almost feminine beauty. His face was most definitely male however and gave no quarter for doubt. He was on his way home when someone called him at an intersection.

"Shindou-sempai.", a weak strained voice called from the dark.

The aptly described, beautiful young man turned to the source of the weak voice. "Teo-kun!", Shindou's eyes widened. "What happened to you?", he asked the injured youth who had been leaning on the nearest piece of wall he could find.

"Why'd you do it?", Teo asked the elder youth.

Shindou just stopped in his tracks and questioned back, "What?".

The injured youth grit his teeth to repeat himself more clearly, "Why'd you become a dopant to stalk my sister?".

"I don't know what you're talking abo-"

"Don't lie to me!", Teo shouted. Weariness seemed to take over the injured boy's face. He held up a lone black feather in his fingers as he said, "Just tell me sempai…Why?".

A look of shock mixed with recognition came unto Shindou's face. He bowed his head while his school bag dropped to the pavement with a light clunk. When the kindly face of the so-called perfect sempai looked to face Teo again, there was a sad smile on his face. "You wouldn't understand.".

_**Thirst**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Folder 3: Bust Out the B / Endless _****_Battle_****_ to Nothing_**

_**Thirst**_

Shindou's tall form began to hunch as porcelain skin fragmented into tan granules. Soon ribbons of ancient cloth emerged from within the sands that scattered in the air to wrap around his form and give him a solid shape. Dust caked into a chest plate and horrendous shoulder pads that depicted screaming victims begging to be sated. Trails of sand followed the Thirst Dopant as it charged Teo in a speedy glide.

The injured youth was in no condition to move out of the way and took the hit instead driving them both through the concrete wall Teo was seeking support on. It's easy enough to imagine what would happen to a regular human if they were hit with enough force to ram a hole into 12 inches of pure concrete, they'd die. Thankfully enough, despite his injuries Teo is not a normal human. He survived, albeit losing a lot of blood and his consciousness in the process.

Shindou stood over the motionless body of the boy for a moment, still sensing the life that flowed within the teen. "Forgive me.", he raised his hand to strike the final blow.

"That should be my line.", a gentlemanly shout called Shindou's attention.

The Thirst Dopant turned its attention from Teo to the new comer. "You…", he pointed one arm threateningly at the man before him. "Who are you?".

A tip of the hat and a bow to go along was his reply. "I am your enemy.", the man introduced himself. He replaced his black bowler hat on his thinly veiled scalp. His face was youthful for a man in his thirties. His crisp pitch suit and pleasant countenance however could not offset the madness that dwelled deep within those eyes of his. "Now that you have asked your question, I will ask mine.", he continued. "Would you kindly step away from the boy?".

Shindou looked between the man in front and the boy behind. "The boy dies here.", the teen Dopant pointed another arm over at the unconscious youth.

The man in the suit just tipped his hat down to cover his eyes as he asked with a voice akin to glee, "Shall I take that as a no?".

"Take it however you please.", Shindou said plainly before his arm shot forward to break the man's neck in half.

_**Weather**_

Thirst's arm of sand shattered before it could reach its victim. Winds of unspeakable strength ripped away at whatever force holding it together. Shindou recoiled, jumping away as he retrieved his arm from the scattered mess it had become. He panted in the pain of the unexpected attack that hurt even though normally dispersing would do little more than tickle him. "What _are_ you?", he questioned the figure that calmly stepped closer to him.

"Me?", another dopant clad in black, white and highlighted with gold spoke modestly. "I am but a man.", he began humbly. "However", his voice continued with a sudden edge. "I will correct that and become a god.", he finished wickedly as he fired another squall from his palms.

Shindou braced himself, protecting his left arm which was still regenerating after being broken. The blast hit him head on, crashing into the house of a very frightened family that quickly scrambled away from the wreckage in fright.

The plaster walls were in shambles, the odd piece of hanging concrete crumbling here and there. The Weather Dopant strutted into the mess he created with confidence bordering arrogant. He made sure his feet crunched against the debris on the floor. It was to plant the fear within his victims, to let them know that he was approaching and that there was nothing they could do to stop him. Screams of terror made the kill all the more amusing in Weather's demented mind. When he reached the spot however, there was nothing but light dustings of sand all over the place. "He ran away I suppose.", he voiced his disappointment. "He wasn't much of a challenge anyway.", he pulled out his memory to revert to his mild-mannered self.

Once outside, the man picked up Teo's unconscious form with ease of one hand. "What an odd choice you've made Ryuubei-dono.", the man commented to himself as he inspected the boy. Sighing as he hung the boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, the gentleman went on with his vocal thoughts, "You've done well for someone inexperienced, but instincts and God-given talent can only take you so far.". The man licked his lips at the next thought, "I'll show you how to unlock your true potential.".

* * *

**Isaka clinic—time unknown**

Silvery eyes shot wide open as if gasping for air. "Shindou-sempai!", he screamed in remembrance. His breaths were short but coming in rapid pants. Teo's mind was barely registering his current surroundings, still stuck on the moment of being crushed in between flat gray rock and a body of brown.

"You are awake.", a voice startled Teo into reality. The effect of which was more prominent with it being a commanding declaration than any form of realization.

It was only now that the youth could take in where he was. Right now, he was lying down on a flat metal examination table with only a small unsupportive pillow resting his head. Around him was all dark but still identifiable as a clinic. The only thing that allowed him to see was the dim illumination of the fluorescent panel that doctors used to look at X-rays. Outlined against the light was the figure of what he supposed was the owner of this establishment and the speaker who snapped him out of his earlier panic, a man a few inches short of bald wearing a doctor's coat.

The man stood up and approached Teo, prompting the boy's survival instincts to push the boy in an upright position in case of the need for self-defense. Before Teo could even ask, the man preemptively introduced himself, "I am Isaka Shinkuro, the owner of the fine establishment you see before you.". He gestured around the room in a grand manner.

Cautious as he was of the man, speaking as still a requirement so that Teo did. "Then I assume you're a doctor?", he asked.

"Yes, yes.", the man walked away without so much as showing any form of paying actual attention. He walked up to his charts and x-rays, examining everything as he spoke, "How do you suppose your wounds have healed at such an alarming rate?".

Teo's brows were raised in confusion, what did he mean? He got off the table with a hop without any problems whatsoever. That was the moment truth struck. He was completely free of injury. He began to stumble on his feet till he was flat on his butt. "H-how?", he stuttered.

"Nothing to be surprised about.", the good doctor turned to the boy. "After all, with a Gaia Memory, anything is possible.".

Fear was now spreading through Teo's system faster than his blood. His body could not stop shaking. "Why do you know about Gaia Memories!".

Satisfaction showed on Isaka's face as he looked down on the boy. "My, my, aren't we full of questions?", he asked as he relished the feeling of being feared. He pulled out his own Gaia Memory, a white one with a tornado, lightning, rain and sleet forming a W. "Forgive me, I must have neglected to mention but I am not an ordinary doctor."

_**Weather**_

"I am a doctor as well as a researcher that specializes in Dopants and you child are a fine specimen.", he licked his lips before plugging the memory into his neck. His form shifted quickly from his gentlemanly shape into one of a barbaric warrior of white furs, black leathers and gold metals.

Teo's senses heightened by adrenaline let him see clearly for the first time. The x-rays on the fluorescent panel weren't human, they were Dopants!

He watched the Weather Dopant approach him casually. The nefarious being offered a hand, inside lay a Gaia Memory. "This is…", Teo did not bother finishing before swiping it away.

"Your memory.", Isaka said before reverting back to his human shape. "The Diamond Memory.", the mad doctor confirmed. He took a few steps towards his charts once more before he began spouting off words and phrases, each one seemingly more mad than the last, unbefitting of his regal stance. "Truly your memory is of an odd kind.", he had said, "It had called to me by its mere presence of strength and it was already in my hands but for some reason it seemed to reject being with me. Mere contact with it sent dreadful chills down my spine.", he turned back to leer at Teo. "And let me assure you very few things can fill me with even the faintest unease.". He continued once more with a regular pace, explaining how he'd chanced upon the memory dropped on the grounds of a high school yard. "Now it is a great question to me.", Isaka stated, "How one such as yourself is in possession of such a memory this unique and what sort of fool you are to carelessly misplace such a powerful product.".

Teo slowly regained his vertical base before beginning a rather forced account of his gift. "It was around two months ago. I was attacked by someone I knew, he had a Gaia Memory, made an easy job of me too. To him I was a piece of trash so he left me for dead. That was when _he _came. I don't know who _he _is, I've never seen his face but I'd know him when I meet him from the presence he gave off.". The teen sucked in a fresh breath of air before pouring out all the built up fear in his body. Completely tense he continued, "It didn't even take a moment till fresh screams reached my ears and even less time for the noise to be silenced. _He_ found his way to me. Here the memories go blurry, I remember dying and then an electrifying surge of power, after that everything around me was either bathed in blood or flames. In my hand...", the teen looked down at the blue Gaia Memory that shone somewhat cheekily at him, "was the Diamond Memory.". "As for how I lost it", he sighed, "I was attacked earlier by a Dopant. I must have dropped it during the scuffle.". His mood went somber ruining what came next.

Quick as his wit, Isaka had the young man in an iron grip. "Tell me.", he spoke incredibly intrigued. "What presence did this man give off?", he asked without losing an ounce of force. "Overwhelming? Regal? Suffocating? _Terrifying _perhaps?", the doctor suggested.

"Y-Yes", Teo barely voiced out in panic. This man was off his rocker and he needed a way out as soon as possible.

"He's truly made his move. That great man has decided to personally bestow a gift upon this boy.", the mad scientist turned away from his subject again. He had assumed that most likely one of the terror king's salesmen had gotten to the boy, but to think that the memory was handed to him in person. Isaka began to mumble to himself, deciding what to do with the boy, where to prod for answers he wanted, to see what made him so special.

The subject of his thoughts had other ideas. Teo did not want to stick around any longer. He wasn't about to become anyone's lab rat anytime soon and he still had things to settle. Carefully, he tried to sneak out unnoticed.

"Where are you going?"

Teo stopped mid-step at the question. He had been noticed, he cursed. The teen decided then that maybe the best approach was the normal one. He gathered his courage and spoke, "Truth is Isaka-sensei I thank you very much for taking care of my wounds. I'll be sure to pay you back so just put it on my tab or something.". With that out of the way, Teo made a dash for the door.

"So you are going to challenge the Thirst Dopant again.", the Dopant specialist watched the x-rays in fascination.

The teen's hand gripped tightly against the door knob. This man, how did he know? Teo was just going to voice this question before he was cut-off.

"Forget it, you'll just die.", Isaka said in plain disinterest. Pulling up an x-ray he had taken of the Diamond Dopant while Teo was still unconscious he continued, "I've fought that Dopant before and I could beat him easily enough. But you...", he turned to the young man at the door. "You aren't his match. I'm sure you have some sort of power hidden deep within you but that is little more than wild instinct, the memory's influence so to speak. Once you fall prey to it then you gain great power however that power comes with more than just the price of humanity, it also stunts the growth of the user.".

"Even if that's so.", Teo opened the door. "There's something I have to do.".

Isaka shook his head, "You are a stubborn youth, perhaps last even a full five minutes against an opponent of his caliber.". He placed the piece of film like paper on the table before turning to Teo, "However.", he pulled out his memory again. "To last five minutes against me is another story altogether.".

_**Weather**_

Teo gulped down fear as he watched the doctor take his monstrous form again. His fear of this man grew to astronomical levels. He was not well versed in combat nor was he gifted in instinct but he was sure, this man was dangerous.

"Now.", the Weather Dopant raised a gloved hand. "Show me what it was that attracted the king of terror to you.".

Despite the confusion that brewed along with horror within Teo's mind, he knew there was no time for doubt. Shindou-sempai was the culprit and now that his secret was found out the senior might do something drastic and dangerous, only one way out of this now.

_**Diamond**_

Crystal of both solid and liquid encased the youth in shimmering armor. The diamond face of the head seemingly much sharper from the determination that radiated off the youth. "I don't have time for you.", Teo growled as he took a fighting stance.

"Oh!", Isaka noted, "bereft of fear now are we? Is it the memory's influence? Or something else that drives you? Either way, if I'm to figure out the secret I'd rther it not be in my workplace.". So with a twitch of his finger, Weather turned into a great tornado that carried the Diamond Dopant away without so much as messing up the papers on the table.

* * *

**Narumi Detective Agency—9:35 AM**

The office was quiet. It usually was at this time of day. Akiko was out gathering information on the local rumors with Watcherman and Santa-chan. Shotaro would have gone himself but he had other matters to attend to. He was sitting at the desk looking through a few interesting photos Batshot had taken while it was on a maintenance run.

"What is this?", he wondered to himself as he squinted at the blurred picture. "Bird?", he wondered. It was mechanical and very fast, Batshot couldn't even keep up with its speed. He shook his head as he scanned through the photos for a clearer one, "Wonder what it could be.".

Not a moment later and the door to W's version of the bat cave opened up. In came Phillip in swift calculated strides. "Shotaro.", he called his partner's attention.

Expecting this already, Shotaro dropped the stack of photos in his hands to turn to his younger colleague. "What've you got for me Phillip?".

"I've confirmed our suspect as Kokoryu Shindou.", the femininely dressed boy opened his habitually blank book.

"I knew it.", Shotaro cursed under his breath.

Phillip continued on, unresponsive to his partner's small outburst. "Beyond what you've told me it seems that there is good reason for Shindou's scholarship.".

This took the half-boiled detective's attention. "Really?", he leaned on his desk, resting his chin on threaded fingers.

A nod and the smarter of the two continued, "It seems Kokoryu was formerly a rich landlord. Their land expanse was great and second to none within Japan. However plague struck their crops one year and they've been forced to sell it out to a company who wanted to develop the land for a long time now.".

"So he's not naturally gifted. He's determinedly gifted.", Shotaro scratched his head. "Can't say I saw that coming.".

Phillip shook his head. "If that was enough to surprise you then this should throw you for a loop. The company that bought the land was Sakazuki zaibatsu.".

The name sparked a thought in Shotaro. "Sakazuki? As in Sakazuki Yamamori?", he requested confirmation.

"Exactly.", Phillip flipped his blank book a few pages before pointing a finger at an invisible passage which he read. "It seems both Sakazuki and Digal were competing for purchase of the land even before the plague on the crops. Kokoryu Shinzo, Shindou's father as well as the original owner was not willing to sell. There was some speculated foul play regarding the sudden deaths of crops and livestock but there was no confirmed poison or unnatural environmental hazard. The only thing noted was the sudden drought within the underground water reservoirs of the land.", with a snap the living search engine closed the book. Phillip's eyes held a pensive gaze.

The look did not escape Shotaro's notice even though he was distracted by Sakazuki's involvement. "What's the matter? Got something else on your mind?", he asked his partner.

Hesitation rolled off Phillip in waves which was never a good sign. "Probably…", Phillip began with doubt in his voice, "the question in my mind is why are Sakazuki and Kokoryu friends? If the file rings true then it would be that Sakazuki had forced the Kokoryus out of their birthright. Doesn't it seem strange?".

"You're right.", realization dawned on Shotaro's face. "Hold the fort down for me Phillip, I'm paying Shindou another visit.", the left half of double collected his jacket for the day.

"But didn't you say you'd visited him yesterday?", Phillip inquired.

Shotaro waved it off as he turned to the fedora collection, he didn't feel like wearing his velveteen hat today. "He wasn't in then, don't know why. I stuck around for a couple minutes, asked the neighbors about him. They all gave similar statements of him being a good kid. It was a fruitless visitation.". Shotaro finally picked out a gray one with white tiger stripe band around the base. "However today will be different, even if he isn't there I'll take care to break in any way I can.".

Phillip raised an eyebrow at Shotaro's confidence. "Do you have a plan?".

"None.", was the dismissive reply.

A shake of the head was all the smarter of halves could do. "Typical. Half-boiled.".

Before Shotaro could even touch the door, it clicked open to reveal Ryuu who had a few files he believed to be relevant in hand.

"Ah Terui, exactly the person I need.", Shotaro grabbed Ryuu by the arm. Before the policeman could figure out what was going on he began to drag the stunned man.

"Oi, Hidari what are you doing?", Ryuu held his ground against the private eye's oddly strong grip.

Shotaro snorted mockingly, "You don't need to worry about that. I'll fill you in on the details while we're en route.". With that over, Double's physical half pulled along a confused police superintendent who could not resist in fear of ripping his racer jacket.

The door closed behind the amusing twosome leaving Phillip alone to his thoughts. Or not quite as Phillip walked over to the wooden barrier. In the scuffle it seemed Ryuu had dropped pieces of his file. A few stray pages informed Phillip that this was a person's complete bio-data and history. He quickly arranged the errant pages and read the name of the subject.

"Sakazuki Yamamori".

* * *

**Morino Apartments–-9:53 AM**

Morino Apartment building was pretty big considering it had up until the fifth floor. Not quite the luxurious mansion like others claim to be but it did its job of keeping its occupants warm and sheltered. Despite the cold façade of weather worn concrete that composed most of the structure, it was still home to many at a reasonable price, especially financially limited students.

"So you've confirmed with the Gaia library that Shindou is our perp?", Ryuu asked as he stalked after Shotaro up the stairs.

The half-boiled detective nodded. "Yeah we checked it with the Gaia Library. His personal history suggests a long time infatuation with Fuyumi. We think he got the memory in order to protect her.", he explained as he climbed the flight of stairs.

"That would make sense, but would a simple crush drive a man to those limits?", Ryuu questioned.

Shotaro turned his eyes to the man in red. "That's what we're here to confirm Terui.".

Quickly the both of them found their way to Shindou's door.

"309", muttered Shotaro. "This is the place.", he signaled Ryuu.

The policeman gave a small nod of agreement. The two of them stepped back and gave the wooden barrier a good swift kick. The piece of lumber flew open as both went rushing in to apprehend their suspect.

Eyes darted left and right. "He's not here.", Ryuu breathed out in irritation.

"But we've got our proof right here.", the private detective of the two stood before a wall in a mixture of mild shock and calm.

Terui furrowed his brow as he took his place beside the man, "What are you on abou…". The words died on his when both of his brown eyes saw what Shotaro did.

On the biggest expanse of wall within the room was a timeline collage. It had a long line with various marks labeled in years. In between the marks were areas that had photos on them. Innumerable photos that reached all the way till they lined the borders from side to side, to just below the roof and reaching the floor, all of them focused on one person and one person only.

"My God.", Ryuu looked everything over. "Asakawa Fuyumi.", he scanned the pictures. Everything starting from junior high school, family dinners, birthdays, photo prints with friends, going on to high school and newspaper clippings of various victories in archery contests. More pictures with friends and more personal photos.

Shotaro's gaze however had already shifted from the collection of photos to the littered work desk of the room's tenant. He rummaged through them. There were notes, books, various odds and ends for school. There were even doodles, poetry and love letters that he made sure to neglect reading. There was finally a small note, one that caught his eye that it was different from everything else in handwriting. While all the others seemed like rough hurriedly scrolled kana, this one was English in textbook cursive handwriting with a personal loopy touch.

"Ryuu.", the private eye called the policeman's attention.

Tearing his eyes away from the disturbing sight before him and onto his companion, "What do you need Hidari?".

"What does it say?", Shotaro asked seriously. An ominous feeling molded itself into a heavy weight that seemed to plummet to the bottom of the detective's stomach.

"_The girl is in Narumi Detective Agency."_

Ryuu looked up with a glare on his face. "We have to get back there.", he told Shotaro.

The two of them nodded to each other in silent understanding as they made haste to their machines. Shotaro had pulled out his Stag phone to call Philip, but it was already too late. The double driver was already wrapped around his waist waiting for him.

* * *

**Narumi Detective Agency—9:52 AM**

Foot steps echoed within the garage that lay beneath Narumi Agency. The steady sound was followed by the occasional flipping of pages. Philip was still at it, reading over the file that Ryuu had brought over.

He was so engrossed in his readings that he didn't hear the slither of sand. The next thing the living search engine knew, he was on the ground nursing an aching chest. A torrent of sand had come out of nowhere to strike him down. At the same time the noise had awoken Fuyumi who had been sleeping on the couch. This fact was proven true enough by the scream that still rung in Phillip's ears.

"At last.", the scratchy voice of the Thirst Dopant echoed in the room. "Fuyumi, we'll be together forever.".

The teenage girl cocooned herself underneath the blankets, her eyes not able to look away from the source of her terrors. "No.", she shook out. "Someone please save me.", she closed her eyes as the dopant reached for her.

"Don't touch her.", Phillip voiced out his own thoughts.

_**Fang! Joker!**_

The sandy dopant turned its head to see just who had activated the memory only to get a face full of fist courtesy of the white sided Fang. "Are you alright Fuyumi-san?", Phillip asked the frightened girl on the couch.

Fuyumi opened her eyes to see the city's hero, kamen rider standing protectively in front of her. "Y-yes.", her voice worked oddly.

"That's good.", Shotaro's voice spoke out from the black Joker side. W double turned to Thirst just as it was regaining its bearings after landing hard on RevolGarry.

"Now.", the two in one rider's chorused. "It's time to count up your sins.". The half and half rider charged forward with feral speed. The jumping punch connected right on mark, stunning the Dopant once again. The hangar doors opened up while the support grills cleared from the runway.

RevolGarry shot off into the tunnels whilst rider and dopant were still trading blows atop of the speeding vehicle.

"Why are you so fixated on Asakawa Fuyumi?", Phillip questioned as he struck the Thirst Dopant in the face.

"None of your business!", the dopant spat back as it shot its arms forward to pin the rider down. The act ended in success and Double found himself with his back against the revolving chambers that housed the other attachments of his machine.

A plan formed quickly in Shotaro's mind, the mental link sending the message to Phillip before proper words needed to be said. The darker sided Joker snapped up its hand and knocked away the support of the sand arms holding him down. Phillip followed up faster then the dopant could and pressed down on the Tactical Horn of the Fang Memory.

_**Arm Fang!**_

The Arm Fang sprouted from the rider's right forearm just in time to block the next torrent of sand fired their way.

Cutting a blinding path through the sand, Double managed to land direct blows against Thirst's chest. Now it was the rider's turn to pin his foe down.

"It's over Shindou, just give up the memory. We can still sort this out.", Shotaro promised.

"No!", Shindou roared with his morphed voice. "I've come too far, given up too much. I shall not be denied!". The Thirst Dopant ripped open its sewn mouth and let loose a large torrent of water that caught Double off guard.

The pressurized blast nailed Double right in the face and his body snapped back down hard against RevolGarry's reinforced armor. Completely helpless after the concussing impact, Double could do nothing as Shindou got to his feet once again.

"You've forced me to use too much water. I guess I'll last long enough with what you have.". The sandy dopant began to dissolve into loose particles to form its sand storm form. The ominous sight was accented by the exit from the tunnel, flooding their sight with bright light.

"You want water?", a familiarly intense voice spoke. "I'll give you water.".

_**Accel!**_

Terui was in Accel Bike Form on what was clearly a head-on collision course with RevolGarry. The red rider quickly remedied this as he jumped a few seconds to spare before he slammed into the black machine and reverted back to normal Rider Form. While still in mid-air he activated his EngineBlade.

_**Engine! Steam!**_

The scalding vapor sprayed into the brewing dust storm, pushing them away from Double as well as the speeding mammoth vehicle and finally dropping to the ground. Now it was just Shindou and Ryuu left to settle the score.

Just as Accel had rolled through his descent into a graceful knee, the dopant was not as fortunate as it reformed into solidity writhing in pain from the last attack.

"You bastard.", the Thirst Dopant cursed as it continued to spasm in pain. "I'll get you for this!", he roared out his threat.

"Then just try it.", Accel rose in challenge. The rider charged forward with the his heavy sword above his head.

Shindou saw the attack coming. Blasting the ground, the force propelled him off the ground. He broke once again to his sand storm form to engulf Accel. He proceeded to attack the trapped rider, rough dust particles accelerating at burn inducing speeds.

_**Jet!**_

For a moment, the spinning barrier of sand had a hole blasted out of it. That moment was all it took for a heavily damaged Accel to stumble out to safety. The rider lost his footing and fell in an unsightly heap. Shindou laughed thinking that his victory was at hand. He'd moved to smother the fallen warrior and finish the job. Ryuu was made of sterner stuff however, proving this by launching a surprising counter attack of streaming steam.

Even as mere particles that floated in mid-air, the dopant screamed profanities at the burning pain it had sustained. Losing concentration, it was forced back to a tangible shape. Terui did not let this chance pass as he rained blows upon the recovering dopant.

Strike after strike, merciless was the only word to describe Accel's assault. Finally the last hit was struck, sending the Thirst Dopant flying. Said dopant was already trying hard to focus and escape with his other form. Ryuu never gave him the chance as he charged up his Maximum Drive.

_**Accel! Maximum Drive!**_

He struck three slashes that left energy trails that formed the letter "A" in front of him. He struck it again and sent the collective power of three simultaneous strikes to smash into the dopant.

The attack was destined to end in disappointment however when a haze of sand fell over the fallen dopant. The _A Slasher_, one of Accel's most powerful attacks was absorbed harmlessly into the haze. It lifted to expose an empty spot of land where Shindou should have been laying unconscious with a broken Memory.

"He got away.", Ryuu cursed as he pulled out the Accel Memory from the AccelDriver. He could not give chase however, there were more important things at this time. They had to make sure Fuyumi was safe.

* * *

**Narumi Detective Agency—10:12 AM**

Ryuu burst through the doors of the office. His eyes darted left and right for signs of the girl. "Fuyumi-san!", he shouted to the empty room. The policeman ducked into the garage and still, no one.

The opening of the reinforced steel gates admitted a parking RevolGarry. It docked into its place and opened up to an exhausted Phillip and tense Shotaro. "How's Fuyumi?", Shotaro had asked at the first opportunity.

A grim shake of the head was all the answer Ryuu could give.

"Dammit!", Shotaro cursed. His boss would've never forgiven him for something like this if he were still alive. As a detective, the client's safety always came first, that lesson had been hammered into him for the longest time. It was careless to think that the office would be safe enough a spot. Frustration was showing on his face. All he could do to let it out was pace about while trying to grasp at some sort of sensible course of action.

"I'll go look for her.", Ryuu declared as he made his way for the door.

"That may not be necessary.", Phillip's voice halted the policeman's tracks. The young detective bent down to pick something up off the ground. A small note not unlike the one Shotaro had found in Shindou's apartment. In similar scrawl to the last one it said.

"_2:00 PM at Mt. Takaki_"

"We've been issued a challenge.", Phillip explained as he handed the paper over to the other two men in the room.

Shotaro glared at the piece of paper like it was the villainous sender himself. "If he wants a challenge", he started, "Then he should be prepared to bite off more than he can chew.".

* * *

**Undisclosed Location—1:35 PM**

The landscape was rocky and weather worn, unsuccessfully hiding the scars mining had wrought upon it. Blast scars were present from the time when explosives were still in use to clear out mine shafts, such was the history of this place before Fuuto came to be. It was perfect for the destructive event that was taking place.

Another explosion rocked a gravelly hill. Clumps of rock and soil send into the air by static lightning from unnatural clouds that plagued the sky.

"What? Is that all you can offer?", the familiar white and black Weather Dopant asked in a rather disappointed tone of voice. "For someone chosen by the emperor of terror himself, I would have expected more. But I suppose even such greatness is still prone to errors.".

"Shut up!", Teo's distorted voice barked out in the obscure dust that had yet to subside from the lightning blast.

The two of them were facing off, Isaka comfortably resting on his laurels atop the smoking gravel hill while Teo was unwillingly on his knees at the foot of the natural slope, in his Diamond Dopant form. They had been at it for almost 8 hours now with neither side giving an inch.

The battle had long devolved from an attempt at escape into an all out brawl. With the Weather Memory's ability to turn into wind, Isaka had blocked each and every attempt at eluding him. So Teo was forced into this situation where victory would be the only way for him to leave.

Despite pained movements, Teo still moved to stand on his feet, adapting a clumsy fighting stance born of little more than being on the painful end of an alleyway brawl. "I'll beat you and then I'll protect nee-san. I'll beat up anyone who wants to hurt her again!", the teen roared as he charged forward.

Isaka sighed as he swerved around the telegraphed punch. He delivered a jab to the ribs of his own which translates into a full power straight to most other low level beings, dopant or rider. He followed it up with a chop to the back of the neck, causing the Diamond Dopant's knees to buckle again. Before the crystalline being could however, the Weather Dopant had grabbed his by the scruff of his neck to deliver a crippling blow to the base of the spine, the sheer power of which send Teo over the other side of the hill.

Weather shook his head. He would have to give the stubborn youth another ten minutes to recover. It had been like this the whole time. The boy did not learn at all, in this case he was liable to get himself killed especially at the rate the Gaia Memory was consuming him. It was already eating away at his personality, from genuinely determined it was turning into something akin to savage desperation.

Honestly Isaka found the boy's compatibility to the memory puzzling. Clearly from his studies, the Diamond Memory was completely rejecting Teo's physical make up. In that case then Teo should be dead from the rebound in one or two uses of the illegal technology and those times would be limited to five minutes at best. It was amazing that he was using the memory for so long and from the tricks being thrown the doctor's way, the teen had used it quite a number of times.

"Is that the reason why you chose him Sonozaki Ryubei?", Isaka questioned to the dark sky.

A blast of rock reported to him that the boy was back on his feet. When Weather leveled its gaze with the clear face of Diamond's an odd recognition formed. There was no time to think this over as Teo's dopant form dashed in at frighteningly impossible speeds. A split second was the difference between Isaka keeping his head and losing it. Fortunately for him he had been able to duck underneath the blade arm that Teo conjured, but the thought in his mind had been confirmed.

"The memory has taken over.", the Dopant Doctor voiced his thoughts. Oh well, instead of seeing this youth progress perhaps it would be better to salvage the memory. With that thought in mind, Isaka anticipated the crystalline dopant's next move.

Another shockwave inducing lunge from Teo began the next exchange. Weather had been caught off guard by the speed the first time but not when such a simple move had an equally simple weakness, at that uncontrolled speed Teo could not maneuver any other way than straight. The Weather Dopant merely stuck its hand out and as predicted Diamond had slammed its throat against the slowly tightening glove of white.

Isaka shook his head as he watched the struggling child before him. "I'm sure you would have given rise to a perfect memory.", he raised his other hand as it heated up, burning much like the sun in the sky, "However it is only a waste in your hands.". He closed the heated hand into a fist before he spoke with an audible grin, "That is why I will make it my own!". Weather threw his red hot punch aiming right for Teo's gut.

"I will not lose!", roared in a manner much unlike his normal demeanor. An odd sense of madness tinged it. He followed these words up by slamming a diamond lance right through the oncoming arm of Isaka. To his credit, Weather merely grunted before throwing Teo reflexively.

The gravelly ground scraped harshly against the young man, but his diamond hide prevented any serious scrapes. He rolled through and clawed his way to a stop just like a feral beast would. He charged again into a jump over the more experienced dopant and fired a hail of diamond shards down. Teo shifted his center of gravity to shorten his time in the air, quickly he stuck his hands on the ground to create a deadly clear pillar to skewer his enemy from beneath.

Isaka saw the oncoming rain of blades as well as felt the rumble of ground underneath him the signal upcoming strike from below. "A two pronged attack.", the elder man gave an impressed curse. If he blocked the air strike he would be run through by the underground spike. If he blocked the spike from beneath then he would be facing at least compounded light damage. Not that blocking was an option with his arm as it was. So he opted for his last choice. Weather turned to mist and let both attacks clash with each other while he sidled away and reformed his body, completely free of wounds.

Weather was still flexing his newly healed arm, which had a hole in it just seconds before, when Diamond noticed his miss. It was something that the crystalline dopant was swearing itself to rectify.

Teo lashed at Isaka with fists hard enough to make real diamonds look like soft talc. These same fists were being blocked with deft skill by the mild-mannered doctor. Their movements were so fast that they almost blurred in motion to the naked eye. The one sided exchange lasted for a few seconds before Isaka decided to counter. He parried an oncoming straight and hit Teo with a stunning palm heel to the face, another swing at the young man's head before ending it with a body blow.

The teen fell to his knees, Diamond Memory popping out of his wrist bio-connector. His body fell limp against Weather's obstructive legs as he felt his mind beginning to shut down from the pain as well as overuse of his Gaia Memory. It had been the first time he'd used it for a lengthy period.

Isaka looked down at the teen before deciding to swiftly kick him away. "I suppose destroying you as you are right now would be the best course of action.", he raised up his arm to call upon the lightning. "That way there won't be anymore nasty _surprises_.", Isaka spat out the last word, still remembering the momentary pain inflicted on his arm. "Die.", he commanded the aerial electricity to strike.

_Again, I have to venture outside._

The wail of a bird screamed through the air. A mechanical bird creature that looked a bit flimsy in make took the lightning strike head on with nary a scratch on it. It wailed again in seeming anger before it charged the Weather Dopant and proceeded into an assault of pecks and bladed wing slashes.

As Isaka took a beating, Teo's limp body began to move gingerly. Slowly the young man stood up and then took hold of his head. There was a dull ache but no more than a minor inconvenience. The youth scanned the area and picked up his dropped memory. He would need to leave for a safe place fast, the mechanical bird could not keep the Weather Dopant at bay forever.

At that time however his phone rang. The teen looked confused as he rummaged through the many pockets of Teo's uniform. He fiddled with it a bit before asking. "Hello who is this?".

"_**Your sister is in my hands. Should you want her to live, go to Mt. Takaki as soon as you can. Time limit lasts as long as the riders can.**_"

The sound of the beeps signaling the end of the call resounded in the young man's ears. He pulled away from small object, staring at the number on his screen. "It's untraceable.", he spoke after a moment's thought. "He said that the time limit to meet him lasts as long as the riders do so that means the two Kamen Riders of Fuuto are with him.", he thought. Either way it couldn't be helped. He sighed in frustration. He would need to play this game or else something bad would befall Fuyumi. Mt. Takaki was only minutes away if he ran at full sprint so there should've been no problem.

"The games end now!", snarled Weather's familiar voice. He slapped away the bird-like machine that had been tormenting him for some time. His complete visage exuded anger. To be made a fool of by a small gadget was grave insult to his pride which could not be allowed, especially since he was planning to become a god. "I'll destroy that pest.", Isaka pointed a white gloved hand at the gadget. He then turned his sights onto Teo's form, "And then I'll turn you into an experiment.".

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline.", the young man smiled. He held out his hand for the bird to land on. With dexterity Isaka was sure Teo did not have, the young man folded in the outer wings of the bird and flipped back the pointed head of the mechanical bird to expose two USB plugs, the folded head and wings joining up with an embossed section of the main body to form a silvery 'W'.

"Gaia Memory?", the scientist stared in surprise.

A smile graced Teo's face. "That's right, I also have a driver.", he said. A belt materialized around the young man's waist. The belt was actually a Gaia Driver, a highly advanced one from the looks of it. The motif was still rough over-tech much like the DoubleDriver but with the difference of the driver itself being an upper case 'B' on its side colored in a shade of darker red. At the right side of the waist was a black maximum slot shaped into a lower case 'b'.

Weather stepped back. "How? This should be impossible. You should be a normal human being, how is there a driver in your body?", Isaka tried to grasp at the reality. Had his check-up been wrong? Was there more to this boy than what he had gathered in the time the teen had been under his care.

"Wouldn't you like to know.", the teen merely said before his next word. "Henshin!", he declared before stuffing the twin ported Gaia Memory into the corresponding slots on the driver.

_**Wing!**_

The young man stood relaxed as white armor encased his whole body. When it finished he snapped his fingers sharply. "Let's end things quickly.", he said in a bored tone. "Teo will be angry if anything would happen to Fuyumi.".

* * *

**Mt. Takaki—2:00PM**

"Fuyumi!", Shotaro's voice echoed at the expansive foot of the mountain. Mt. Takaki was one of the highest mountains near Fuuto, not far from the old mines that predated the city.

The great natural giant also fell victim to the mining effort and was mostly barren of plant life. Only sparse shrubs and dry weeds that refused to die could survive on it. The land could not be used for development either due to its unstable nature and more frequent tremors. It stood as a reminder to Fuuto of what excessive mindless development did to the land.

Shotaro, along with Ryuu, wandered around the parched plant life. The two had just arrived a few minutes ago and there was no sign of Fuyumi or Shindou anywhere. But that may have just been them looking in all the wrong places.

From a higher vantage point on the mountain face, Shindou looked down upon the riders, watching them fruitlessly searching. He decided it was time to make his move.

_**Thirst**_

He stabbed the activated memory into his bio-connecter, located on his throat. Once his dopant form had taken shape, he bore down upon the two unsuspecting riders.

For the most part, the initial strike had been successful. Shindou knocked both riders down and kept them from actually transforming into their respective rider forms. That only lasted so long however when Both Shotaro and Ryuu made a silent agreement after a split second eye contact. The two had bolted in opposite directions, leaving the Thirst Dopant confused for the better part of two seconds before finally deciding that Accel was the bigger threat.

"Phillip!", Shotaro shouted as he donned the DoubleDriver.

"_Right_.", Phillip replied in Shotaro's mind.

"Henshin!", voices of both halves of W echoed the other as they inserted their respective memories.

_**Cyclone! Joker!**_

In a moment, fragmented energy and debris formed over Shotaro to become Kamen Rider W. Shotaro flicked his wrist before charging at the dopant toi get him off a still human Ryuu. W had tossed the kaijin away before he pointed and quipped, "Time to count up your sins!".

Shindou snarled back, "The only thing I'll be counting is your corpses!". He charged again with one hand half-way dissipated in order to capture the rider.

Phillip saw the incoming attack and got Shotaro to follow his lead. W leapt up in a cyclone kick with the Soul Side leading. The resulting squall from the kick blew away Shindou's sand arm that tried to grab at them. Once on the ground, Joker side fired a counter spin kick which didn't do much to the dopant. From there, it quickly became an exchange of kicks and punches between the rider and dopant, respectively.

Ryuu regained his bearings quickly and pulled out his own memory.

_**Accel!**_

"Hen…shin!", he announced as he stabbed the memory in.

_**Accel!**_

Red energy gathered and pulsed around him before enveloping him in his crimson armor. "Let's shake things up!", he charged into the fray.

Shindou had just repelled another of W's attacks. They may have been fast and sharp blows but none were heavy enough to deal any lasting damage. That all changed when Accel came into the equation. The crimson warrior just cut in the middle of the Thirst Dopant's counter attack and delivered a series of punches and kicks which were way more powerful than what W had offered. Finally a kick jolted Shindou's dopant self into action, jumping back half-way into sand storm mode.

"Give up Shindou!", Shotaro shouted at the transformed teen. "You can still make things right. Give up and we'll make sure you won't get pressed for serious charges, I'm sure Fuyumi would understand if it's you.", he tried. Despite all the bad things that Shindou may have done, he was still a kid. Most likely the boy had grown up in an unfortunate environment with his family's property being taken and all. This obsession of his may have just been something he used to cope. If possible, Shotaro wanted to settle this without a fight. "Come on!", the half-boiled detective tried again, "We don't have to fight!".

"You…", Shindou panted, trying to regain his breath. "You don't understand anything!", he howled before turning completely into a sandstorm. He swallowed up both riders, who tried in vain to counter the attack, and proceeded to toss them around rather violently, not ceasing in his assault until he felt both beginning to lose their strength to struggle. One last time, he smashed the two riders against each other, scraped them across the rocky ground before finally flinging them away.

Caught by surprise, Shotaro and Ryuu could do nothing but remain still from all the damage they had incurred. All they could do now was try to put up a defense as they felt Shindou's ethereal grip on them once again.

"Die!", the dopant snarled from everywhere in the dust cloud as he launched them into the air.

A second later, a sudden gust of wind blasted the whole field. It blew the Thirst dopant back to its solid state while the wind picked up the falling riders to slow their descent from fatal to bruising.

"You again?", Shindou automatically thought of the Weather Dopant he had faced yesterday. Very few could create winds strong enough to force his most powerful state to cancel out. What met Shindou's gaze however was not the fur-lined form of Isaka's dopant form but that of something else.

Instead a form hauntingly similar to W appeared. His armor was glaring white against the sun. He rubbed his wrists as if they'd been injured despite the silver bands that protected them. Odd little wings protruded from those bands, looking freshly ruffled and used. His feet which carried the same ornaments did not carry footsteps as light as their appearance showed. His helm intimidated the dopant, with sapphire eyepieces lined with similar silver, extending upward into horn like antennae and downward like a trail of tears. The blue gem was between the eyes being the only spot of elegance on the otherwise demonic face.

The newcomer spoke as if he was bored, "Let's get this over with. Where is Fuyumi being kept?".

Shindou felt something was familiar about the voice but he couldn't place his finger on it. "What do you care?", he spat back.

"I'd be in very big trouble if anything bad happened to her. So care to share her location?", the white warrior riled up the dopant.

"Fuyumi is mine!", Shindou roared with a charge.

The warrior in white ducked under the attack and parried the follow up strikes with relative ease. A rather strong straight took him by surprise, forcing him to block it. In a second, the fist that impacted spread out into sand to wrap about the warrior.

"I'll crush you!", the dopant continued his mad rave.

The warrior merely shook his head. "I'm afraid I'll pass.", calmly replying despite the powerful pressure squeezing his body into pulp. Calming his mind, the white warrior concentrated as he felt the Gaia Memory that powered him send strength flowing through his limbs. "Fly.", he commanded as sand was blasted everywhere.

Thirst Dopant was blown back a fair margin as wind whipped about his white foe. The white warrior stood amidst the chaotic sand. The tiny wings on his wrist had grown to about a hundred times their size while glowing with energy that flapped the winds in its frenzy.

Despite the intimidating scene, Shindou took up the offensive and attacked before his white opponent could so much as blink.

While those two were fighting, the other two on the scene were finally recovering enough to at least sit up.

"Who is that guy?", Shotaro asked with surprise at the one doing what was supposed to be their job.

Terui shook his head, "I don't know but I don't like it.". The rider stood up to his full height, testing if he was in any condition to fight and found himself able enough.

Shotaro got to his feet as well saying, "Let's go help him shall we?".

"Better not.", Phillip suggested from his side.

"Why not?", Shotaro questioned his partner's motives.

"Because this fight's already over.", Terui voiced his observation of the battle.

Shindou had somehow put some distance between them again and assumed his sand storm shape. The white warrior moved quickly, slamming his fists together to gather energy into the wings once more and blow the dopant away.

"That trick is getting old.", the white warrior deadpanned. He ran into the reforming dopant's guard and rained down punches. Seeing they were dealing little damage, he stopped mid-way into an attack and came at Shindou from below with an uppercut. This finally got the Thirst Dopant's head up, perfectly open to a right hook that sent the kaijin spinning.

The warrior in white pressed down on the buckle like face of his Gaia Memory. The embossed design of an elegant 'W' popped up. He flipped it upwards into an 'M' and squeezed them close. Two memories then popped up slightly from their place on the driver. One hand pulled out a memory and plugged it into the Maximum Slot. The warrior slapped the activation button on the slot before whipping his hands out on either side.

_**Wing! Maximum Drive!**_

The white warrior jumped high into the air.

Shindou was recovering on the ground and saw the oncoming assault. Deciding that this was going to be a physical attack, the teen activated his sand storm shape again in hopes that this time it would protect him.

Accel and Shotaro saw what would happen and moved quickly.

_**Engine! Steam!**_

_**Cyclone! Trigger!**_

Ryuu let loose his super heated attack of water vapor while Shotaro and Phillip ripped into Shindou's loose form with wind bullets. The attacks groomed expected results and again foiled Shindou's most powerful form.

"Hehe", taunted Shotaro. "We've learned the weakness to your trick.", the half-boiled detective boasted.

"But only after that new comer showed us.", Phillip pointed out, instantly ruining Shotaro's mood.

Now stunned, in pain and unable to muster up the strength to move, Shindou watched as the one in white descended upon him.

"Let's go.", the white warrior howled. The wings on his wrists and ankles grew in size similar to before but this time they grew on his back as well. At the apex of his jump he bent his legs as the wings' glow intensified before propelling him forward while they broke apart. "Wing Talon!", the white warrior announced as both soles of his feet planted themselves against the dopant's chest. All the power in his legs blasted down into the writhing kaijin as the warrior stretched his legs into a stomp.

The warrior in white flipped back gracefully and watched Shindou's dopant form explode to reveal his human shape.

Bluish lips and dark circled eyes ruined the pale porcelain skin of the teen. Shindou reached out for his shattered memory that was smoking in a small pile of ruin before him, trying desperately to piece it back together. "No! No! No!", he screamed, "I'm strong! I'm strong! Just give me one more chance!". He recoiled as the broken technology crackled in his hands. "I'll defeat them! I'll prove I'm strong enough to have Fuyumi!", he cried out to a person only he could see in his hysteria.

Ryuu appeared behind the teen, now with transformation undone. "The only thing you've proven is your guilt to harassing that girl. Now tell me where she is.", the policeman snarled at the younger man.

"He doesn't know anything.", the white warrior spoke to ease Ryuu out of his tough cop routine.

W was about to undo his henshin as well when that statement caught his attention. "What?", Shotaro cut in the conversation.

The white warrior repeated his earlier statement. "This guy doesn't know a thing. He was a pawn in all this. The case isn't over yet.".


End file.
